Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, we're currently seeing the lowest wage growth in more than 20 years, under your watch. We've got underemployment being a serious concern, and we sadly see employment growth slowing. There are now 714,000 people unemployed, which is nearly 20,000 more than when the Abbott-Turnbull wrecking ball swung into office. That is on your watch. We see a coalition government in its fifth year that's, basically, been failing hard-working Australian families. In fact, you've done everything to undermine working Australians while sucking up to the top end of town. You've overseen the cutting of penalty rates, and you would know, Minister, how that affects people, particularly in the retail sector. We've seen our lowest paid workers suffering. We'll be seeing penalty rates cut again on 1 July, and then again on 1 July 2019, yet your government has done nothing about it.

We've seen your government bring back the ABCC, making it more difficult and less safe for workers in the construction industry. We've have seen the consequences of the ABCC interfering with the union's legitimate role of assisting workers with safety on construction sites. Minister, I have three brothers who work in the construction industry and quite a few nephews also who work in the construction industry. My younger brother, Timothy, sadly had two of his friends killed right beside him at the Twin Towns site back in 1988, something that he almost never recovered from, physically or mentally. So I know the important work that unions do in keeping workers safe, I've been a union organiser myself, but not in a dangerous industry like the construction sector.

We know, and you know, Minister, that unions must be able to access worksites to inspect safety concerns that are legitimately raised with them by their members. They must be able to do that without interference from the ABCC, and without misinformation being provided by the ABCC. In Queensland we have seen situations where the CFMEU have been refused legitimate right of entry to worksites when their members have requested their assistance. For example, the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing project has a well-documented history of health and safety incidents—you can see the newspaper reports on it—including some very serious plant rollovers at a dangerous worksite. There have been 17 accidents in a period of 18 months. Workers on that Toowoomba rail crossing site have a right to be safe at work and to go home to their families each night. But accidents are happening and workers are being seriously injured, and they are fearful.

The ABCC, rather than making workplaces safer, seems to be only concerned about stopping unions, such as the CFMEU, from talking to their members. Bad advice from the ABCC is allowing rogue builders to hide behind the organisation and not address the legitimate safety concerns of workers. It's just another part of the coalition government's unfair and anti-worker ideological agenda. As a former employer, Minister, you know that bad or rogue employers undercut good bosses, including good builders, who do the right thing. In their desperation to get their unfair and anti-worker ABCC legislation through the parliament, the coalition did a deal with Senator Xenophon. The pay-off to Senator Xenophon was that the government would commission a review into subcontractor payments in the construction industry. The Murray review was completed late last year.

We know there is an urgent need for a nationally consistent approach to security-of-payment laws. Your government received the Murray report more than five months ago. You've had time to consider the recommendations, but we haven't even heard whether or not you, Minister, accept these recommendations. We hope that you will not be deserting the associated small businesses that miss out on these payments. That can destroy families and businesses. Pacific Highway subcontractors in New South Wales are owed $7.3 million because the head contractor engaged by the New South Wales Liberal government has gone into liquidation. This is the exact problem that the Murray review recommendations address.

Senator Xenophon and the other crossbenchers that supported his amendments to the ABCC legislation were promised, by Minister Cash, 'meaningful reform' to improve compliance with security-of-payment laws. The coalition government took their votes on the back of those promises. And now, with firm recommendations from the Murray review in your office, you are sitting on your hands. The Turnbull government only looks after the top end of town. Whether it's workers or subcontractors relying on payments from building companies, this Turnbull government has done nothing to protect their wages, to protect their payments or to protect their safety.

Minister, when is this government going to stand up for Australian workers by stopping cuts to penalty rates and making building sites safer? (Time expired)

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