Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

No—come on, 'Freedom Boy', you've had your go. We heard you with the member for Griffith—with your so-called commitment to freedom of speech—and you were trying to gag her. This government is all about giving more money to people who already have it. That's what this government is all about. In everything it does, this government is about giving more money to people who already have it. It believes absolutely, down to its bones, in trickle-down—that failed philosophy that says: if you give money to rich people, it will end up one day in the pockets of poor people. It hasn't worked throughout human history. 'But it'll work now. We'll give it another go. It hasn't worked for centuries, but it'll work now.' They're convinced: give more money to the rich people, and one day poor people will benefit. The evidence says otherwise.

If this government cared about workers, it would care about wages, but wages growth is at record lows—around 2.1 per cent growth. Company profits are at 5.8 per cent. According to this government, when companies earn a higher profit it's meant to mean higher wages, but it's not happening. There is 2.1 per cent growth in wages and 5.8 per cent growth in company profits. Where is the pay-off for workers under this government? It's not there.

Companies can continue to get the profits and workers continue to pay the price. If this government cared about workers, it would care about penalty rates, but penalty rates have been cut for 700,000 workers. This is costing workers in low-income and insecure workplaces at least $70 a week, depending on their shifts. And on 1 July, workers' penalty rates will be cut again by 15 per cent. Since the cuts started last year, consumer spending has declined. Maybe that's because workers have less money to spend. And remember last year when this government said, 'We'll cut penalty rates and all these jobs will emerge because employers will have all this extra money'? It hasn't happened. It has not happened!

This government fails workers—

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