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

I too rise to speak in support of this MPI. If we needed any confirmation that Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull were the same, it came in question time today when Senator Brandis confirmed the Turnbull government was on exactly the same path as the former Prime Minister, Mr Abbott. The same wrong, misguided policies which have hurt ordinary Australians under the prime ministership of Mr Abbott and will continue to hurt ordinary Australians under the prime ministership of Mr Turnbull. Whether those Australians are young or old, working or pensioners, almost no-one is spared, except, of course, the big end of town. Wasn't this one of the reasons why Mr Abbott was deposed—that he had lost touch with ordinary Australians and that his first budget was way too harsh? And yet, if we needed that confirmation from Senator Brandis that Mr Turnbull was on exactly the same track, it came unequivocally during question time today.

Let us have a look at what is happening here. There is an attack on workers in Australia and on penalty rates. In fact, Senator Cash confirmed on Monday in the media that penalty rates were a part of the agenda. The Turnbull government has confirmed that they want to take penalty rates away from working Australians. Why would you do that? Why would you reduce the take-home pay of a group of workers who are already low paid? Complete nonsense. Why do they want to do that? Because they are on the side of the employers. Because John Hart from Restaurant and Catering Australia is their good friend. He was on a working committee that Mr Abbott proposed and put up, and I am sure he is still on that committee. He has the ear of Mr Turnbull and has said, 'Penalty rates have got to go.' That affects, by 30 per cent, the take-home pay of those workers. Those opposite have no idea over there because they always mix with the big end of town.

Industry super: one of the first things the government did in a little side deal with the crossbenchers was to let the leading employers—again, their mates—off the hook to freeze superannuation contributions. And how short-sighted was that? Because that affects people's retirement incomes. That affects how much money people have to retire on. And who will have to pick up the shortfall? The government of the day. But it does not bother the government because again they were looking after their employer mates at the big end of town. They said, 'Sure, we will save that money.' It was farcical to say that somehow those savings would end up in workers' pockets. Well, of course it has not. It stayed in the boss's pockets—wining and dining and Liberal Party donors, no doubt.

We see today that this bill is back here, watering down industrial relations laws. Never mind that the government have said, 'Work Choices is dead, buried and cremated.' It is not. It is sneaking into this place under another name. These industrial laws in the bill before the parliament will again make it easier for employers to reduce the working conditions and trade off entitlements. Under the Turnbull government's proposal, you can trade a pizza for a penalty rate. What a disgrace. They want to take weekend penalty rates, reducing income from about 30 per cent, and now they want to be able to do little side deals. Let me tell you, when the employer sits down with a low-paid worker, it is not even playing field and that is why you need strong unions in this country—so that workers have a proper voice and proper representation.

But the attack does not stop on workers. The attack is on pensioners. The Greens have got a responsibility here, because in a dirty deal with the government they have cut part pensions. The Greens said that was knocking off high-paid people. Well it is not, because in a few years time down the track again—absolutely short-sighted, it shows that the Greens are still on the L plates when it comes to the economy—it will hurt middle Australians. And again, who will have to rescue them? It will be the government of the day having to try and find money to prop up pensions, because the part pension decision that the Greens made with the government will hurt ordinary Australians into the future. The facts are there for all to see.

Yes, we want to increase the pension age to 70. Again it shows how out-of-touch the Turnbull government is; they have never met a builder's labourer or a cleaner. They have probably never seen the people who clean their offices—the invisible workers. Imagine saying to those cleaners that they are going to be carting heavy things, they are going to be vacuuming floors and they are going to be scrubbing and polishing until you are 70—how out of touch is that? It is an absurd suggestion for people who do manual work in this country to work until they are 70. If you choose to work that long, good on you, but to actually make it a condition is a disgrace and it shows once again how out of touch those opposite are.

Let us have a look at the attacks on young people, another group. We have got workers, pensioners, and now we have got young people. The government want to punish young people who cannot get a job. The unemployment rate in Western Australia has gone sky-high, partly due to the absolute mismanagement by Colin Barnett and finally the West Australian is even attacking him. This bloke could not manage his way out of a brown paper bag. We have record-high youth unemployment, and what does the Turnbull government want to do? It want to make those people go without money. First of all they had a suggestion of six months. It is now down to six weeks. They think somehow that mum and dad can just stump up for looking after that young person who, through no fault of their own, cannot get a job. But, of course, they do not believe that. They think young people are lazy. In fact, they have said that young people lie on the sofa playing with their Xbox—again, totally out of touch. It is very difficult in Western Australia to get a job. And remember, if you get a job, the Turnbull government are the people who want to take your penalty rates away. If you get a job, and you are on junior wages, you are not going to be paid very much at all. Thank you to the Turnbull government!

Of course, for those young people who want to go on to universities, the Parliamentary Budget Office confirmed today that the $100,000 degrees are still there. They want to burden young people with $100,000 of debt—imagine that. It is unimaginable if you are a 17 or an 18-year-old entering university that you are going to have to carry that debt. In fact, I think government ministers under Mr Turnbull have said, 'It is just shelved.' Well it is still there—$100,000 degrees. So, if you are unemployed or you want to go to university and you are a young person, forget about support from the Turnbull government.

Then there are the attacks on families. There are the cuts to family payments that they want to put through. What about their parental leave proposition? Remember the imaginative too expensive scheme that Mr Abbott put forward that would massively advantage people on high incomes—again, their mates—leaving ordinary Australians worse off? Well, that got scrapped. His backbenchers revolted. Under Mr Turnbull we have had people accused of being double dippers: women who get some maternity leave from the workplace and then are topped up by Labor's scheme—Labor introduced the paid parental scheme. We are now seeing that being watered down so women who want to return to the workforce will be forced to go back much sooner because they will be worse off, so they are hit with family payments and they are hit because the Turnbull government has taken away their paid parental leave—and that is their intention.

Medicare: almost from day one of the Abbott-Turnbull government they have attacked Medicare. Again today the Parliamentary Budget Office confirmed there are more hits to Medicare through pharmaceutical benefits. That is where they want to go next. It is bad enough that they are now forcing most people to pay upfront for pathology and radiography services—and they do not come as single items. Women with breast cancer and women who require Pap smears: that is who they are continuing to disadvantage.

Climate change: again today it was confirmed that for the first time in 10 years our greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise. Their failed payoff to the big end of town, their failed direct action policy—there is the proof: greenhouse gas emissions are rising in Australia for the first time in 10 years.

What about employers? We have seen what they want to do on super. Under the Turnbull government they give the big banks access to workers' funds to try to water down boards and then in the latest move we have a five per cent failure rate on contributions. What do we see? We see the minister wanting to reduce penalties to give employers a way out when they do not pay workers' entitlements on super. It is very clear who the Turnbull government stands for: it is the big end of town.