Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I thank the House for the opportunity to make a brief statement on this report. It would surprise no-one that Australians do not believe children should be engaged in child labour. It's been a long-held view and something which has not been allowed for a very long time. Children should be just that—children. They shouldn't need to worry about a job, especially one in which they are exploited. They should be focusing first and foremost on their education. The responsibility for laws which govern the arrangements around whether young people can work lies with the state and territory governments.

While it might come as a surprise to some Australians that it's taken so many decades for our country to sign up to this convention, we have more or less been complying with it the entire time. So it is good that the Australian parliament is saying to the world formally that we agree with the intent of the convention and that is something we should all support, which is why the committee has agreed that binding treaty action should be taken. In doing so, we join 175 other countries around the world that have committed to eliminating child labour through the convention. Importantly, the convention does allow some flexibility, which is something I raised during the public hearings. Not every young person fits the cookie cutter mould when it comes to going to school; my own experience attests to that. So it's good that there are some exemptions for apprenticeships, which are effectively work in conjunction with education. It also doesn't mean we will put an end to the newspaper or catalogue runs by young people in the neighbourhoods or the stocking of shelves at family-run convenience stores.

Hopefully, as was mentioned through the committee process, the ratification of this convention will go some way to allowing us to show leadership in our part of the world. As we know, this is a significant issue in developing nations in our region. We need to be able to say to our Asia-Pacific neighbours that child labour is not okay. This move gives us that edge. I thank the committee members, those who made submissions and the secretariat for their work on this, and I commend the report to the House.

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