Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pride to speak on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill in terms of ensuring that we create a safer, fairer environment for workers in Australia. Throughout history, this side of politics, the Labor Party, and Labor governments have fought for Australian workers.

I want to list some historical facts. In 1907, the Harvester judgement occurred. It was a landmark decision that established a fair wage for workers, ensuring a decent standard of living. In the 1920s and 1930s, Labor championed the fight for the eight-hour workday and safer workplaces. In 1947, the Snowy Mountains schemes employed thousands, providing workers with fair conditions but also thousands of migrant workers with equal pay and equal rights. In 2010, the historic Paid Parental Leave Scheme was introduced, ensuring financial support for new parents. Now this Albanese Labor government is building upon this legacy, ensuring fairness in the workplace persists.

Those points I just made about the historical milestones of Labor laws that were enshrined in law by Labor governments, historically, at every step, they were always opposed by the coalition. Anything to do with better entitlements for workers, better pay for workers, better leave arrangements et cetera, is always opposed. The only industrial relations policy we've seen from the other side has been things like WorkChoices, which diminishes pay and diminishes rights and a whole range of other things. Historically, it's in the Liberal Party's DNA to reduce wages and reduce workers' rights in any way they can. Historically, they've proven that. So it gives me great pride to be here today to speak on this piece of legislation.

Four key pillars of the reform are labour hire loophole crackdowns, criminalising wage theft, redefining casual work and safeguarding gig workers. We championed these policies when we were in opposition. We spoke a lot about them. Now we're making them a reality, just as we promised during the last campaign of the federal election. We're now delivering on those promises. Consultation has been thorough throughout, but our commitment to Australian workers is unwavering. We hear the calls of the people in our electorates and those who serve us—those in our police forces; those who work in mining fields; those who work in hospitals, the cleaners and the nurses; and those who work in the airline industry, where people serve us every day over the counter et cetera. We hear their calls. We don't just make a note of their concerns; we act on their concerns as a government. From wage theft to gig workers' rights, our commitment remains unwavering.

Our commitment to get wages moving underpins these reforms, and, at the heart of it, lies a simple yet powerful idea. Throughout history, Labor governments have fought for Australian workers. Over the past nine years, we saw the lowest wage growth that's existed in this country historically. It was something that the other side was actually proud of. They said they wanted to keep wages low. In other words, they wanted to keep wages low while profits went up and the cost of living went up. Yet, they were happy to come up with policies to work the economy and everything else, but not wages—not for those people wanting to make a living to pay their bills, to pay their mortgages, to make sure their kids were clothed, and to make sure breakfast was on the table every morning. That's what happens when you drive down wages; you make it harder for those working people who are doing it tough and who are working very hard, sometimes in very hard conditions.

This is about putting an end to companies using loopholes to short-change their employees. It's about upholding fairness by ensuring workers are paid what they've already agreed upon. That's nothing radical. There's an enterprise bargaining agreement where wages and conditions are met by the employer and employee. This is about upholding that, upholding a contract, upholding an agreement that's been made. So I can't see why they think that this is some sort of radical change.

We are taking a stronger stance against employers who steal from their workers, and it's as simple as this: if you work hard, you deserve fair pay and wage theft will no longer be tolerated. As I said, if you are an employee and you steal from the boss, the police come in, charge you—and rightly so—you go to court et cetera. Why isn't it the same the other way round when it is being done systematically in some places? We have seen the media reports over the years of many, many companies and firms who have systematically shortchanged their workers' wages by systematically putting systems and accounting practices in place. We have seen them needing to pay back millions of dollars. I won't name those firms because you'd think they are doing the right thing now once they'd been caught. But we want to stamp that out. I'm not saying all employers are doing this because the majority are good, honest people in the business world who pay their employees the correct amounts. But we want to weed out those that aren't. They need to pay the penalties, and we need to ensure that, if they don't do the right thing and are short-changing employees through wage theft, you are dealt with. It's as simple as that.

Casual workers should also know where they stand. If you are working consistently like a permanent employee, you should enjoy the same rights and the same benefits of that employee. We are also clarifying what casual work truly means and safeguarding workers from exploitation. Gig workers often face job uncertainty. We are here to ensure that they are fairly compensated for their work. It's about standing up for those who need it most.

As I said, these reforms aren't about overhauling the system; they are just about making our existing laws work effectively. It's nothing radical. Employers will still have the flexibility to negotiate rates, and workers will be sheltered from exploitation—a pretty simple formula. I cannot see why people are opposing this. But, then again, I do think about the historical facts of our side and their side, and where we have always stood when it comes to workers' rates and industrial relations laws versus where they've always stood. One fine example is that piece of legislation in this place on industrial relations when they were in government, the WorkChoices legislation. That gives you an example of where their thinking is.

On this side we believe that casual workers should have the option to become permanent employees if they wish—and I repeat, if they wish. If you are putting in regular hours like a permanent worker, you should have the same rights. We're introducing a clear definition of when someone can be labelled as a casual. This change could benefit up to 850,000 workers who have consistent hours—in other words, they've been putting in those hours just like a full-time employee for months and months and months. We want to be crystal clear that no-one will be forced to switch from casual to permanent because we respect their choices. Businesses won't be burdened by this with extra costs if someone is a casual because they will continue to pay the loadings and leave entitlements for casual workers as they would for permanent workers. That means fairness for all parties involved.

These reforms are all about ensuring that workers are treated with the fairness and respect they deserve, and we need workers to have opportunities in businesses that have clear guidelines and businesses to have clear guidelines to follow. As I said, it's not a radical overhaul. It's about making things fair and straightforward, and we are actually making these plans a reality, backed by thorough preparation. This was a commitment we made during the election campaign and for months before the election campaign, and now we're bringing it to fruition. We are also investing $3.4 million to make our workplace reforms happen. This includes funds for the Fair Work Commission to ensure swift dispute resolutions and to support implementation and evaluation. These reforms will start on 1 July 2024, giving employees a voice in changes that affect them. We have consulted extensively and reviewed existing arrangements, and we initiated this process by actively encouraging and welcoming the voices of our workforce. Many of us on this side have met with unions, workers groups et cetera, and we continue to do so. We do this because we want to ensure that their concerns and opinions are at the forefront of our efforts. We are tackling a pressing issue, and that is the misuse of labour hire that undermines workers' agreements.

While labour hire serves legitimate purposes in many cases, the concern is that companies are exploiting a loophole, paying labour hire employees less than agreed rates. Why should you be working in the same premises, delivering the same product or goods, manufacturing the same goods or offering the same services as someone working right next to you—doing the exact same work, same hours, same shifts et cetera—and get paid less? This is a loophole that has to be tightened. There's no doubt. As I said, there are places for labour hire companies, but we need to close those loopholes where people are using it just for the ability to pay less and drive down wages for the rest of their employees. The proposal we have empowers the Fair Work Commission to ensure labour hire workers are paid fairly, aligning with the host enterprise agreement. This initiative upholds 'same job, same pay'—pretty simple; I can't see anyone arguing against that—and addresses the loophole that allows pay disparities. The only people that would argue against it are people that want to drive down wages or want to pay lower wages. Key elements include application options, exemptions for small business and safeguards against avoidance.

There's also another allocation of $6.8 million over four years for this change, and it begins with anti-avoidance measures upon this bill being introduced, with the Fair Work Commission orders enforceable from 1 November 2024. This reform affects both existing and future labour hire arrangements, with extensive consultation and engagement over 45 sessions to ensure fairness prevails. We're taking a significant step to protect workers in the emerging forms of employment like the gig economy. The Fair Work Commission will gain powers to establish minimum standards for those employee-like workers, ensuring they aren't exploited or subjected to hazardous conditions. We see the dangerous areas they work in, riding bikes on busy streets in the CBDs or rushing to get to the next job because there's pressure on them to make six or seven deliveries in the one hour or in the half-hour. These are hazardous conditions, and no-one's life should be endangered or their health endangered while they're at work. We're not forcing people into traditional employee roles; we're simply advocating for fairness. Gig workers deserve better than 19th-century conditions in the 21st-century digital age. I'm very proud to be speaking on this bill. I'd ask everyone in this place to support it because it's about fairness and it's not a radical change.

I just want to bring one more historical fact before I close off. In the late 1940s the government of the time was negotiating migration agreements with European countries to bring migrant workers over, who have now become settled here, and I'm the son of one of those migrant workers. If you read the Hansard of the debates that were taking place in this place back then, there were two views. One, from the conservative side, was saying they should come in but should be paid less. That was an argument that was put in this chamber—maybe not this chamber but the one down the road. The other side, with the backing of the unions, said, 'No; if they're doing the same job and they're working side by side, they should have equal pay.' Can you imagine—we today pride ourselves as multicultural in this country—what this country would have looked like if they had their way back in the 1940s? It would have been a very different country today. At the heart of this bill is fairness, and I want to remind the House and anyone listening that, when you look at industrial relations bills, on the Labor side it's always been about better wages, better conditions and fairer work conditions, compared to the other side, which has always been about diminishing wages and unfair work conditions.

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