Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I bring to the House two first speeches from young people in Makin. The first, from Gabrielle Colloff, says:

Retail workers are the backbone of our economy. Australia must step up and protect the people who are our frontline, the workers who keep the nation running, before it's too late.

Too many retail and fast food workers are being abused at work, verbally and or physically. Enough is enough. Everyone has the right to a safe work environment.

As challenges continue to unravel after the pandemic, now is the time for our society and economy, as well as our government and businesses, to show retail workers that they are a valued part of our nation.

In order to rebuild our society, the government must invest in maintaining and nurturing our workers, thus creating a safe work environment free from abuse. Unions are only a small step towards achieving this, so it is vital for the government to continue supporting its workers. We must give them the respect they deserve.

Retail workers have always been essential, but now, it is impossible to ignore. Time after time, retail workers are not being considered; instead they are taken for granted.

The health and wellbeing of 1.5 million retail workers deserves attention.

Retail workers consistently face job insecurity, staff shortages and customer abuse.

It's time, Australia, to stop saying retail workers are 'essential' and start treating them as 'essential'.

The next is from Jessica Grasser:

I never understood why victims of domestic violence stayed until I was 13, begging a woman in my life to leave her toxic relationship.

Her only response was to show me the $36 in her bank account and ask me how.

I was 13 and I then understood the correlation between domestic violence fatality and economic insecurity in this country.

I was 13 and I discovered that the number on your payslip got to decide how safe you get to be, and I knew it was a problem.

The truth is the accessibility of justice and safety in this country relies on your personal economy despite those from lower-socio-economic areas suffering the most from violent crime.

Australians deserve better than to be asked to choose between a roof over their heads and their lives, but it is an issue people in my area face every day.

This is evident across the entire country as 42% of Australians utilising homelessness services report being a victim of domestic violence.

We as a country must do better to make up for this, we must remove the burden economic insecurity has on domestic violence victims by ensuring that fleeing domestic violence payments and public housing is accessible for all victims.

We must ensure that the way our police force and court system handle domestic violence, works for victims and is proactive in damage prevention.

From someone who grew up to discover this culture, I ask this house to make sure that our next generation doesn't have to.