Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

We have had, once again, part of the truth being spoken in this chamber by Senator Abetz. We know that when a union goes to negotiate, it does not just look at the Sunday and Saturday rates that workers get; it negotiates better terms and conditions for its members who work for the entire week. It is just cherry picking for those on the other side to come into this chamber, day after day, and rearrange the truth about what is happening with unions when they go out and negotiate.

What I have asked, and what we asked in question time today, is: what is the modelling? Put the modelling on the table that the government has done that will prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that there will be more jobs in these sectors where it is now cutting the penalty rates. I guarantee you there will not be any further jobs in Tasmania, as Senator Lambie said. I guarantee you, when you go out for lunch on a Sunday you will not be paying any less for your meal. You will certainly not be paying any less for your coffee.

It is all right for those on the other side to say, 'We have to support the Fair Work Commission because they're independent.' Of course they are independent. But if the decision is wrong, then we have every right on this side of the chamber to stand up for the most vulnerable in our community, the lowest paid workers. It is just a coincidence that this is the same government that has failed to have proper representation of women on its frontbench. And here it is now attacking hairdressers and attacking beauticians; it is going after pharmacists, it is going after hospitality, it is going after retail—which are all dominated by women. We also know that it is talking about essential services being protected. When it comes to registered nurses who work in the aged-care sector, they will not be protected. The emergency services it is talking about only go to the nurses and doctors who work in a general hospital, not those in aged care.

We know that the government is very happy to give the big end of town, big business, a $50 billion tax cut at the very same time that it is now attacking the lowest paid workers in this country. They are saying: 'Yes, we need to cut these penalty rates because it's costing small business. They will not be able to open their businesses because it costs them too much.' I can tell you there are not a lot of restaurants in Launceston that are not doing very well. You always have to make a booking to try to get in. I am not sure if Senator Whish-Wilson has experienced the same thing when he has wanted to go out in his local community. It is very hard to get in.

The reality is penalty rate cuts are not going to bring about any more jobs. If they were, then they would have done modelling. But the Australia Institute has shown that in fact the financial pain that will be caused by cutting the penalty rates will have a negative impact on the economy and it will absolutely worsen the deficit. And there will not be any new jobs created. So to come in here and say, 'We're going to talk about the facts, we're going to put on the table the reality about these big bad unions and the way they negotiate enterprise bargaining agreements'—I have never been a union official, but I can assure you that through all my working life I have always belonged to a union. I believe that they are there to serve the best interests of their members. Those opposite can come in here and try to muddy the waters and make assertions about the Leader of the Opposition, but, at the end of the day, everywhere I go throughout this country this is the topic of conversation.

I spoke to registered nurses from the aged-care sector that came to parliament today. They know, as I do, that the topic of conversation around every dinner table and at every worksite is about penalty rates and what that is going to mean. I had to sit in a room this morning and hear the struggle that aged-care nurses and people working in aged care have to go through in trying to get a mortgage. A lady was telling me that she had to re-establish a mortgage after her relationship broke down. She was crying. She said: 'Without those penalty rates, I would not have been able to have a mortgage. If they cut these penalty rates, I will lose my house.'

This Prime Minister and this government have no empathy whatsoever because they come from the big end of town. It is in their DNA. Whatever they have to do to make sure that low-paid workers are kept down where they belong is what this government will do, day after day. People on this side of the chamber and the crossbenchers will stand up for those workers, today, tomorrow and every day to protect their rights. (Time expired)