Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Worse off. And it doesn't matter how many times the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General come into this place and deny it, you only have to look at their own actions to see that what they say at the dispatch box doesn't reflect what they actually do. What they say at the dispatch box is that it doesn't hurt workers, but what they actually do is pull out bits of the bill which then, in black-and-white legislation, leaves workers worse off. We on this side of the House have a very different idea about making sure that hardworking Australian families aren't left worse off by this Morrison government and by this Attorney-General.

What this bill does is create more casualisation in our economy; it creates more of a casual workforce in our economy. We on this side of the House have said that this doesn't have to be the way. In fact, we've offered up policy solutions. The Leader of the Opposition gave a detailed speech about the options that we could be undertaking, as a country, to help give people a pathway to permanent work. If you are a casual, we want to see you have the option—if it's what you want—of getting into full-time, permanent work. What this government wants to do is lock you into the casualisation of your work. This government wants to lock in the lack of pay and conditions of the casualised workforce, compared to the permanent workforce. This government's idea of industrial relations reform is to make sure that workers have less work security, less job security and less long-term security in their employment.

To look at some of the details of why and how the government is going to unravel this, let's look at some of the things it's doing around enterprise bargaining. Under this bill, workers will only have to be notified a month after negotiations have even commenced—a month! They're weakening the bargaining framework so that workers are going to be left behind without negotiations. They're also taking away the right to a comprehensive explanation of an agreement that they're being asked to vote on. And workers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds will no longer be guaranteed an appropriate explanation from this government's reforms.

I'm looking forward to continuing this when the debate resumes. I will be continuing with my contribution on this bill, but, as we head towards the adjournment debate today, let me reiterate where I started: the Labor Party opposes leaving workers worse off. This government wants to make sure hardworking Australians are worse off under their industrial relations framework. We on this side of the House want to see fewer casual workers in the economy, we want to make sure workers have a pathway to permanency and we want to see good pay and conditions available to Australians, not denied. If you are looking to transfer from casual work to permanency—for example, if you've been in the same job for two years—we think that is an appropriate time for you to say: 'Hang on a second, I've been with one organisation for at least two years. That should guarantee me a right to permanent protection.' But of course they're not entertaining any reforms like this. All they want to do, all the member for Mackellar wants to do, is leave workers worse off, to pay them less, to rob them of pay and conditions. We will not stand for it on this side of the House.

Debate interrupted.

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