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

Senator Abetz's motion seeks to condemn all employers, employees and other groups. The trouble with Senator Abetz and his motion is that he sees everything in a binary sense—in black and white. I ask Senator Abetz: would he condemn a worker for walking off a worksite because she believes her life is in danger from unsafe practices? Would Senator Abetz condemn a miner getting himself to the surface from three kilometres underground if he thought a mine was going to collapse? Of course people should not break laws; if laws are broken, there must be consequences. But to condemn everyone in every situation is too simplistic. Labor does not share Senator Abetz's black-and-white view of the world of work, especially when workplace fatalities continue to occur all too regularly. One death is one too many, and if that death is avoided by somebody walking off the job then I hope Senator Abetz would agree that that was the right call.