Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I went to hospitality today to say hello to a school from the electorate visiting us here in Canberra. They're really excited to be here. They've come to see the country's leaders making important decisions. They come from an electorate that has been heavily hit by the changes to penalty rates and by the pay cuts that are happening to the locals who live in their community—their mums and dads.

There are nearly 9,000 retail workers and nearly 5,000 food and accommodation workers in my electorate. So 13,500 workers are taking a pay cut because of a vote that happened in this place. They, like me, want to know why the tainted vote of an illegitimate member has delivered them a pay cut. Why do they get a pay cut while a minister of the Crown—who, by his own admission, should have stepped aside—gets to keep his pay? It is a fair question. What did they do wrong? Did they neglect to do their due diligence? I don't think so. Did someone give them a piece of paper and, say, 'Tick a box that says that all's clear, and you can be a federal member of parliament'? No. They didn't do thing anything wrong. They get a pay cut and he gets to come into this chamber and pretend he's legitimate. It's his negligence. Take his money from him and get him on the back bench.