Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to share with the chamber some of the stories of people who will be affected if this government gets its way and its wish to cut penalty rates. We know they are going after penalty rates. Whether it be a backbencher, the Prime Minister or a minister, they have not kept it a secret that they are opposed to penalty rates, particularly on a Sunday. They have taken the side of the employers and not listened to the stories of the people who will be affected if penalty rates are cut.

I want to share with the House the stories of three people who have spoken to the Labor created Fair Work Taskforce. We created this task force to speak directly with workers about the impact of government proposals, particularly in the space of IR. As we know, the Productivity Commission has put forward a proposal to cut the Sunday penalty rates. We were quite fortunate to have one of the Productivity Commission's hearings in Bendigo, and what struck me when I was listening to the conversations, to the evidence that was being presented, and also to the questioning by the productivity commissioner was the lack of understanding about the rates of pay that people on penalty rates are earning. The commissioner kept talking about 200 per cent versus 150 per cent but did not take into account the base rate. If you have a low base rate 200 per cent is not a lot. If you have a higher base rate 150 per cent of that may in fact be more than somebody on 200 per cent is earning. That is what was being discussed in Bendigo, that is what is being discussed throughout the Productivity Commission hearings and that is also what is being raised in Labor's Fair Work Taskforce. What we learned about from these three stories was the impact, what would happen if the government did indeed proceed with the proposal that is before the Productivity Commission to cut the Sunday penalty rates.

One of the people we spoke to was a woman of 45 who is a retail worker. She opposes the cuts to weekend penalty rates. She has worked as a part-time shop assistant in a large supermarket for nine years. She is a single mum with three children aged 10, 19 and 21, who all live at home. She says, 'Without the additional income from penalty rates, I would not be able to meet my mortgage repayments, pay my rates and keep the roof over my family's head.' She is doing what we ask of her. She is working part-time and raising three children on her own. Yet, if this government were to proceed with cutting penalty rates, she would struggle to keep the roof over her children's heads.

What are the Sunday penalty rates worth to this person? She says, 'If my Sunday penalty rate was cut it would be a pay cut of about $5.35 an hour, which equates to just over $1,000 in wages a year.' It may sound like a lot when you say 200 per cent, but when you start to talk about what that cut means hourly and then annually, it is $1,000—and that $1,000 makes a big the difference to this family. It is the difference between them paying their rates and mortgage and having to find somewhere else to live.

Another example is of a person aged 29, who is also a retail worker. Since the age of 15, he has worked in the fast food and retail industries. He is employed under an enterprise agreement. He is currently paid $31 an hour and $79 for working on Sundays. He normally works a Sunday shift. If penalty rates were cut, he would lose about $5 an hour, and that equates to $1,526 per year. Again, if this particular young worker lost that money, he would struggle to pay his bills.

The government talk a lot of talk when it comes to penalty rates, but I do not think they understand the real impact. Sure, our shops are now open seven days a week, but I note that the government are only talking about the Sunday rate. They are not talking about the Monday rate. If the government were serious about supporting enterprise bargaining, they would be encouraging employers to increase the Monday to Friday rate, but they are not. They are only talking about the Sunday rate. If we really want to see people progress then we should get behind the enterprise bargaining scheme that we have and get behind people who are collectively bargaining with their employers for better outcomes. A cut to just the Sunday penalty rate will push a whole bunch of working people, like the people I have mentioned today, into poverty—and that is not acceptable. (Time expired)