Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Materiel) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Fisher, you asked me whether or not there is any evidence that paying people more improves their performance, in effect. I do not know if you have ever supported anyone getting a pay rise, but I suspect that maybe you have not. All I urge you to do is to check the Hansard for what I have already told you, which is that there is very clear evidence that people who are forced to work on poverty wages take risks they should not have to take. If you are asking people to work for that sort of money, you have to expect that there will be action taken by people trying to preserve the livelihoods of their families. As a consequence, people work longer hours, they take drugs, they speed and they take action which is dangerous to other people. So the fact that we are asking for people to be paid a decent wage is something this government is proud of.