Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The closing loopholes legislation is deeply personal to me. My parents, like many migrants, came to this country seeking a better life. They found it through secure jobs with good conditions supported by a union, a foundation that allowed our family to thrive here. But, unfortunately, well-paying jobs with good conditions have become increasingly elusive because of those opposite. They had low wages as a deliberate design feature of their economic plan. This bill aims to fix that, ensuring that our industrial relations landscape upholds the basic tenet that a fair day's work gets a fair day's pay. The Fair Work Act has been a cornerstone of our industrial relations system, balancing the needs of businesses and workers alike. But, as our economy evolves, so too must our laws.

The emergence of the gig economy and precarious employment conditions demands the attention and action of this place, because we do not want to become a nation where you need tips to survive. That's what the closing loopholes bill is all about. This legislation addressed those modern challenges, ensuring our legislation reflects current realities faced by thousands of gig workers across the country. It addressed the sorts of realities faced by food delivery riders in my electorate—workers like Zhuoying Wang, who sustained an injury at work and was offered free food instead of workers compensation. It will allow the Fair Work Commission to make orders for minimum standards for new forms of work, such as gig work. This is about ensuring some basic minimum standards so that drivers and riders like Zhuoying Wang don't have to choose between their pay and their basic safety.

At the core of this piece of legislation was the desire to build on the government's efforts to get wages moving. With current cost-of-living challenges, we know that taming inflation and getting more money into people's pockets is the best way to raise living standards. On every one of those fronts, we're getting on with it. Headline inflation is now at its lowest level in two years. Monthly inflation has a three in front of it for the first time since December 2021. These figures show we are making welcome and encouraging progress to the inflation challenge. Our policies are helping. The 0.9 per cent rise in the wage price index in the December quarter means wages were 4.2 per cent higher through the year—the equal-fastest annual growth since 2009.

Since the election, nominal wages have been growing at an annualised average of 4.0 per cent, compared to 2.2 per cent for our predecessors. Real wages growth is back, but we know there is more work to do because things are still tough. That's why our cost-of-living tax cuts are so important, because no matter what you earn you'll get to keep more of it. We want every Australian worker to take home more of what they earn. But, unlike those opposite, we want them to be safe while doing it. That's why it's so disheartening that the opposition couldn't get behind this legislation, and this really shows what the Liberals are all about. It shows that they have learnt nothing from their decade of presiding over low wages; that they're fine with maintaining the dangerous status quo for gig workers and truckies; that they're okay with maintaining loopholes that undercut enterprise agreements between businesses and their workforce; and that they're okay with not giving long-term casuals a better pathway to permanency and the job security that comes with it.

Those opposite want workers to earn less and work more, whereas we on this side of the House want workers to earn more and keep more of what they earn.

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