Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I recently posted on Facebook my support for penalty rates and the important role that they play not only in the livelihood of young people in my electorate but also the regional economy of towns like Newcastle, I was overwhelmed by the level of support from Novocastrians and, indeed, the broader community. Their reasons for supporting penalty rates were broad, but I want to highlight just two of the stories that were shared with me on Facebook. There is a single mum and she is a cleaner at a major hospital in Newcastle. She said:

Yes we do need penalty rates! Who's going to work weekends, arvos or night shifts for a flat rate? Definitely not me—I'd rather stay home with my children.

The father of a young university student said:

Our daughter is a uni student. Her only income is part-time work in a café. Penalty rates help her put petrol in the car and pay for other essentials.

There is no evidence that cutting penalty rates will create jobs, as claimed by the government—not here and not internationally—but there is plenty of evidence around to show that cutting penalty rates will hit, in particular, regional and rural economies hard, as it will young people. The McKell Institute has done some fabulous analysis of exactly that. The government needs a plan to get the 800,000 unemployed people back into jobs rather than attacking those who rely on penalty rates to make ends meet. Let's address this nation's unemployment problem rather than enter the— (Time expired)