Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia has record-low wage growth. It is the standout statistic in the Australian economy, and every worker in this country knows it. What is the government's remedy for it? Cutting penalty rates. Which is why I was so proud that in this place on Monday the Leader of the Opposition introduced the Fair Work Amendment (Restoring Penalty Rates) Bill 2018. It was not a moment too soon, because this Sunday we will see the next round of penalty rate cuts, and this is the big one; it is much bigger than last year. In my electorate of Corio, up to 11,000 workers will be impacted by this cut. We know that the Prime Minister sees that labour costs are just another unit price on a profit and loss sheet. Indeed, he has compared it to being no different to the cost of a loaf of bread—an input cost there to be minimised.

Unlike loaves of bread, people have children, and children don't go to school on the weekend. Kids go and play sport, and parents need to be around to ferry them to that sport and to other activities. Some parents want to watch their kids play. All of this occurs on a weekend. Labor absolutely get that working on a weekend is a penalty. We also understand the vital income that penalty rates provide people in those households. I can assure you, a Shorten Labor government will restore penalty rates to this country. Before we get to that, the government could step up, bring this bill on and vote for it, which is what they should do. (Time expired)