Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fanny Andriolo and Cveta Krsteska are two Commonwealth cleaners who have worked hard in the industry for nearly 40 years. They came to see me recently because they were worried about their wages and conditions as a result of the Abbott government's decision to repeal the Commonwealth Cleaning Services Guidelines.

Born in Italy, in 1964, Fanny moved to Australia in 1985. She worked as a cleaner from the time she arrived while learning English at the Canberra Institute of Technology. She currently cleans a Commonwealth government building while caring for her injured husband. Born in Macedonia, Cveta came to Australia when she was six. She has been cleaning since 1977 and also cleans a Commonwealth government building.

Fanny and Cveta are good and hardworking people. They personify the rich economic and cultural threads that migrants have woven in our social fabric. The reduction of Commonwealth cleaners' pay as a result of this government's decision has caused needless stress and hardship to Fanny, Cveta and hundreds of their colleagues in Canberra. And for what? It is a sad indictment on this government that it is so reluctant to act on multinational tax avoidance yet barely bats an eyelid when deciding whether to cut the pay of the people who clean their own offices.