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

Yep, life is tough, particularly in the state of Victoria. We are feeling acutely the effects of this pandemic—through the health crisis and through restrictions. It is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I want to take a few moments to acknowledge the resilience of my local community and the efforts that are being made, and give a shout-out to the people who are doing it despite how tough it's getting.

As I stand here, I think about how we are called upon to have that Australian spirit, that community spirit. We are told over and over again that we are all in this together and we need to have hope. The rhetoric is thick and fast; that comes with a pandemic. Qantas, which is known as the iconic Australian airline—it is 'the Spirit of Australia' and has the great song 'I Still Call Australia Home'—has announced that it is going to sack 2,500 baggage handlers and ground staff, and replace them with labour hire workers. Even though they've received JobKeeper, even though they've received millions of dollars from this government to keep their workforce employed, they are going down the labour hire route. Labour hire is the Achilles heel of this economy, and the pandemic has exposed how insidious it is. It is the cause for the spread of many of the COVID-19 cases through workplaces. It has often been referred to by the Premier as a problem—insecure work. This place and this government has a responsibility to do something about it.

Despite the rhetoric of the government, there are hard borders in place in Victoria to stop the spread of COVID-19 from Melbourne to the regions. Just south of my electorate, in the electorate of McEwen, there are borders. I never thought I'd be standing here saying that there are roadblocks in place on the Calder Highway and the only way someone from Melbourne can get to Bendigo is if they have a work permit. That's the country we're living in at the moment; those are the extreme measures we've had to go to to keep the virus out of regional communities; that is the effort that is being had. But still, unfortunately, we have had some small outbreaks in Bendigo. All of those outbreaks have been linked back to Melbourne and most of them have been through workplaces—and I suspect that a lot of them have been through labour hire.

It is fortunate that employers in our electorate have acted quickly and effectively to limit clusters and outbreaks. I want to acknowledge Don KR. We are, believe it or not, about to go through a shortage of smallgoods, particularly bacon. Don KR is one of the largest suppliers of smallgoods in our country and they have now been capped for health reasons. They have also had their own shutdown. They acted quickly. They worked with the community and with DHHS, and they are back up and running. They have worked effectively. They are now engaging just local workers—no Melbourne workers—so that they can keep people in work, and they are making sure they can continue to support their supply chain.

Hardwicks, which is a meat processor, has not had an outbreak. Unlike other meat processors around the country and in Victoria, they have no labour hire workers. They have a close relationship with all of their staff, including their backpackers, to make sure they feel comfortable getting tested and have a safe place to get home to. They had their own fears when there were lockdowns in Melbourne, because some of their workers couldn't get out.

What we are learning through this crisis is that the relationship between employer and employee is critical. If you have a good relationship, if there is trust in place, if there is a COVID-safe plan, if people are aware of that plan and feel supported, and if they have the correct PPE, then they get through. And, if somebody does get sick, if somebody does have symptoms or if somebody does have to take time off from work to get tested, they are supported.

It took too long for this government to react on paid pandemic leave. We had workers in Melbourne who were having to self-isolate because a partner had tested positive or there'd been an outbreak at their workplace, and they had no access to any paid entitlement. The point of paid pandemic leave is that it comes in before the crisis to help people isolate if they need to.

I could go on about the experiences of my electorate and I will over the next couple of sitting of days and next week. They are stories that need to be told so the whole country understands the challenges that we are facing in Victoria. (Time expired)