David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When Senator Polley stood up, I was pleased to hear that she was going to focus on the facts. In this postmodern era I suspect that the facts and the truth are pretty unpopular, but I continue to be a fan of the truth and of facts, and I was pleased to hear that Senator Polley also appeared to be. However, then she went on to spend the next five minutes just repeating the Labor Party spin and scare—trying to represent things as happening when they are not happening, and talking about threats to other industries when it has been made clear by the Fair Work Commission that those threats do not exist.

Then, as proof that she is right, proof that she is talking about the facts, she says that people do not believe us. The fact that people do not believe us does not prove anything other than the fact that you are good at spin, not what the facts are.

Let us have a look at some facts. Let us see what the facts are around this decision. The changes will affect around three to four per cent of Australia's total workforce. There are about 1.1 million workers in retail, accommodation and food services who are not on an enterprise agreement. It is estimated by the FWC that between 25 to 40 per cent of them work on Sundays, and not all of those would work every Sunday. So what we are talking about here is maybe 250,000 to 400,00 people who might be impacted.

Under the decision, Sunday penalty rates are being reduced in four industries only, and those industries are retail, hospitality, fast food and pharmacy—four out of 122 awards. Public holiday rates are proposed to be reduced from 250 per cent to 225 per cent for permanent workers and from 275 per cent to 250 per cent for casual workers in five industries: retail, hospitality, fast food, pharmacy and restaurants—that is a subcategory.

This decision reflects modern shopping trends, where many more customers want to shop and more people want to work on Sundays, especially young Australians. Those are facts. They are trends that are apparent and are happening. Workers in industries covered by enterprise agreements, such as those working in the major supermarket and fast food chains are not directly affected. I will get to that a little bit more if I have time. No other industries are affected. The commission specifically said in its decision that it sets no precedent for other workers who work on weekends, such as nurses or emergency workers. Affected workers will still get weekend penalty rates—that is another fact that has been misrepresented—but Sunday rates will now be closer to Saturday rates, which remain unchanged. I suspect there are people out there who, as a result of the spin and the scare campaign that has been run by the Labor Party and the unions, think they are going to lose all their weekend penalty rates. That is simply not true. For example, instead of getting double time on Sundays, casuals on the retail award will now get time and three-quarters, while permanent staff will get time and a half.

As I mentioned, this applies only to small businesses, not businesses that are dealt with under an EBA. The fact is that most large businesses have done a deal with the unions and have put in place a bargaining agreement under which penalty rates have on the whole already been reduced. Thousands of small businesses have been competing on an uneven playing field against those big businesses that have negotiated a highly advantageous bargaining agreement with unions. That means they already avoid paying high penalty rates on Sundays. Once again, let us focus on the facts, not on spin. For example, for permanent full-time and part-time staff on Sundays, a bed and breakfast must pay a worker $10 more an hour than a five-star hotel would pay an equivalent worker; a family chicken shop down the street, a family owned small business, must pay $8 more an hour to employees than its competitors KFC; a family owned takeaway must pay $8 more an hour than McDonald's; a family owned green grocer must pay $5 more an hour than the local Woolworths; a family pizza takeaway must pay $8 more an hour than Pizza Hut; a boutique clothes shop must pay $7 more an hour than David Jones; a family owned bookshop must pay $8 more an hour than Target; a family owned newsagent must pay $7 more an hour than Officeworks; a family owned bottle shop must pay $7 more an hour than Dan Murphy's; and a family owned hardware store, there are not too many of them left these days, and this is probably part of the reason why, must pay $5 more an hour than an equivalent worker in Bunnings. The Fair Work Commission decision will help small businesses open their doors and compete on a level playing field with these large businesses and create more jobs. (Time expired)