Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I mention Michele O'Neil and the other officials and, more particularly, their organisers, being those people who have gone out into the sweatshops and out into people's homes to bring this to our attention. They should be commended for their effort and I apologise that it has taken us so long to address this very, very important issue.

As I said earlier, these changes will promote fairness and ensure a consistent approach to workplaces to ensure that entitlements are protected for the class of workers that we on this side of the chamber all know have been exploited. I return to the people that I met yesterday. There has been only a handful of such people that I have met over the years that I have been in this place. There is not one of those people in my mind at least—and I know those people opposite have a different view—that should not enjoy the same rights and protections held by every other worker in this country. I know those opposite will get up after I finish and babble on about how they are protecting their mates. I think this of those people opposite: we know whom they protect; it is the big end of town. When it comes to workers' rights, we know what their agenda is. What they ought to be doing is coming out and saying now what their Work Choices mark 2 version, which they will take to the next election, is going to be about. We know what their view was when it came to the mining resource tax. We know what it was when we were talking last night about the transport industry and protecting that industry. We know their history when it comes to protecting workers. Well, we on this side of the chamber make no apology and while we are in government we will continue—as I will certainly do while I am in this chamber and beyond—to ensure that Australian workers are not exploited by the likes of those opposite. So I take great delight in standing up in here today on this and once again I commend the union, their membership and, in particular, those workers who have been exploited for having the guts to stand up and make sure that they are heard. I commend the bill.