Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today we see that, perhaps, there is another reason why the Turnbull government is so intent on protecting those on that list: many of them are big donors to the Liberal Party. We have Dick Honan, whose Manildra company has contributed to the Liberal and the National parties. We have Michael Crouch's Zip companies, who have contributed to the Liberal Party. We have Mr Crouch himself who has contributed to the Liberal Party. We have the late Paul Ramsay's healthcare company, who has contributed the Liberal Party. We have the late Doug Moran, who has contributed to the Liberal Party. We have the late Richard Pratt who has contributed to the Liberal Party. They are all on the former secret list. That is one of the reasons why these lists need to be transparent so Australian taxpayers and Australian voters can make up their own minds.

Of course there is another company on the list, and I am calling it a secret, dodgy list: 7-Eleven, a truly discredited company. They currently hold the record for making the top of another list, the top of the list for the highest ever record of underpayments to its own staff. To date, the Fels panel has uncovered $2.3 million of underpayments for just 101 workers. They are on the secret list that the government wants to continue to protect. Mr Fels told the Senate inquiry last week that they have written to 15,000 workers. So this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The company 7-Eleven tells us it wants to be accountable, yet fiercely clings and seeks government protection to stay on the secret list. Last week at the Senate inquiry, we discovered a similar fraud to James Hardie. The company 7-Eleven has now set up an independent company called Independent Claims Pty Ltd to which it is going to funnel payments to workers who have been underpaid. That is a company that the government wants to protect and does not think it is okay somehow that the public and Labor demand transparency for companies like that. That is not good enough. Thankfully, that secret list, with all the people on it, is now out there for the public to see, along with the list of donors to the Liberal Party for the Australian voters to make up their own minds about.

Right now, we have a government hell-bent on raising the GST—again, going after the Australian community and Australian workers—to a whopping 15 per cent, but steadfastly refusing to deal with tax transparency. Boy, have they got it wrong and the Australian public know it right now.