Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If I could just finish my comments. The leader of the Labor Party made his position on this matter very clear, as have many other Labor members as well. The Leader of the Opposition made it clear that Labor does not agree with breaking the law. We are elected to this place to uphold the law, and Labor believes that if a law is unjust or unfair then you change the law. Of course, changing the law does not just happen on its own. It requires people to campaign to make the case and to persuade voters to elect people to this place who will fight for workers' rights. It is exactly because of this kind of work by the Labor movement that we have equal pay for men and women, that we have fair hours of work and fair pay and that people have the right to organise and, if necessary, strike to improve their pay and conditions. That is why, while other members seek to use this place today for stunts, Labor is actually dealing with the issues by moving legislation in both houses of parliament to change the law to protect penalty rates of up to 700,000 Australians who are set to have their pay cut as a result of this government's failure to act. That is what the Labor Party will do. We will respond and we will introduce legislation to deal with the terrible decision on penalty rates, but we will not be a part of stunts that attack individuals within this chamber. That is the reason why we have denied formality to these series of motions today.