Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to support this motion. Thanks to this government, and this Prime Minister, 700,000 low-paid workers in retail, the fast food industry, hospitality and pharmacies are being paid 10 per cent to15 per cent less. Some workers are going to be up to $26,000 worse off by the time these cuts are fully implemented next July. I hate to think about the impact that's going to have on families and small businesses in the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury. Because of the Liberals, these already low-paid workers are increasingly finding it harder to pay their rent, cover their electricity bills, fill their tanks and look after their families. Because of the Liberals, these workers won't be buying an extra coffee to kickstart their morning. They definitely won't be making all those appointments at the hairdresser and their cars are just going to have to wait a little bit longer for a service. That means the local coffee shop won't be as busy, the corner store will have fewer customers and business will be slowing down at both the hair salon and the mechanic. It will ripple across local economies like those in the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury.

The Liberals need to understand that less money in weekend workers' pockets doesn't mean there is automatically more money in someone else's. There is no evidence that these penalty cuts have produced a single job, as the Prime Minister promised they would. Even the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia admits new jobs have not been created. Peter Strong, the chief executive of COSBOA said:

There's no extra jobs on a Sunday …

There's been no extra hours. Certainly, I don't know anyone (who gave workers extra hours). It's been just a waste of time.

That's the quote—there have been no extra jobs and no extra hours. But there is less income, and that means less to spend. People will struggle more and they will spend less. Pharmacy workers won't work any less hard, but they'll earn less. Young people who bookend their school or uni day and study with paid work in hospitality feel the brunt. Their parents talk to me about their dismay that not only do they not get penalty rates anymore but some employers fail to pay a fair rate at ordinary time. But the young person is so desperate for their first job and to get a foot in the door that they'll take whatever terms are offered.

Cuts to low-income workers through their penalty rates is not the policy to have at the same time as stagnant wages and an ever-rising cost of living, but it seems the Liberals are happy to see low-paid workers cop another blow to kick off this financial year. On the one hand, the government says the economy needs a boost from tax cuts, yet weekend workers need to work less. So, in some sort of deranged riddle, they stuff one pocket of the low-paid worker with up to $1,000 extra while they take $5,000 out of the other pocket. These cuts to penalty rates continue to be unfair. Penalty rates are not a luxury. Fair pay is not a luxury.

In the Blue Mountains, the penalty rate cuts are just one of the issues undermining our industrial relations system—low wage growth, wage theft and worker exploitation. In the news, jewellery chain Michael Hill underpaid staff by $25 million, chef George Calombaris has had to back pay $7.8 million in wages and super to staff, and the underpayment at Sydney's Shangri-La Hotel comes at the same time we have allegations in the Blue Mountains that a hotel group has exploited migrant workers. It's appropriate that Fair Work is investigating these allegations revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald by Anna Patty. We need to hear the outcome not only of that inquiry but also the audit last year by Fair Work into businesses' compliance in the Blue Mountains with workplace laws, including in the accommodation and food services industries, after a high number of reports by young workers of workplace disputes.

Every business that underpays its workers is creating an unfair playing field for the many other businesses who do the right thing. I commend the members of the Blue Mountains Union Council for their ongoing work in raising awareness about worker exploitation in the region. If the actions by this or any other employer are found to be illegal, they should face the full force of the law. If the actions are not found to be illegal, then questions must be asked about the adequacy of existing laws to protect all workers from exploitation, whether they are Australians or here on work visas. Regardless of the findings by Fair Work, I expect this case will yet again highlight the inadequacy of current employment protections and provide even more reason for the rules to change.

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