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

I rise to continue my contribution on the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Take-Home Pay) Bill 2017. This debate verifies and confirms how out of touch this government really is. Not only is this government joining with the decision that has been made to cut penalty rates for some of the most vulnerable and lowest-paid workers in this country, but it has continued its attack on Australian workers to the extent that it is almost laughable. The government come in here and try to defend themselves and say that the Prime Minister did not go on radio to confirm his support for cutting penalty rates. First they go after penalty rates and now they are trying to hold a minimum wage increase for the lowest-paid workers in this country.

In contrast to Labor's submission to the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review, the government's submission just lists arguments against increasing the minimum wage, including this argument, which states: 'increasing the national minimum wage is not an efficient way to address relative living standards or the needs of the low paid'. I would say to those people listening in the chamber and those reading the transcript that this shows once and for all that Malcolm Turnbull and his government do not care about Australian workers. Australian workers and their families have been neglected time and time again by this government. We know the attacks they have made on family payments.

The real issue here is that individuals rely on these penalty rates to be able to make their budgets balance at home. The money they get by having to work on Sundays and Saturdays is about ensuring that they are able to provide for their families, just like everyone else who may have better, higher-paying jobs. They have to make very tough decisions at times. Minister Cash has said in this place and also in the media that she believes this is only a minor or moderate impact on the people who will lose out when these penalty rates are cut. For the benefit of Minister Cash, government senators and others who are supporting penalty rate cuts: this money is about people being able to fill up their tank with fuel. It is about whether or not their children can get a new pair of school shoes. This is about whether or not they are able to meet their mortgage payments or their rent. These are real issues that these people have to deal with, time and time again.

On top of everything else that this government has done in relation to cutting family payments, we see now that this arrogant and out-of-touch government is again going after the very same people—those who earn the least amount of money. They are now saying that those hardworking Australians do not need a pay rise. I can assure you that, contrary to what those on the other side have contributed to this debate thus far, there will not be any new jobs created when they cut penalty rates. That just will not happen. What will happen is that those people who rely on penalty rates will in fact have to work longer to earn the same amount of money, which means they will be away from their families for longer periods of time. It will mean there will be increased pressure on students who are trying to work their way through university. They will have to make decisions that will impact on their ability to meet their university commitments. Quite clearly, this government does not understand. They do not want to understand that the attack that they are making just increases inequality in our community, and the sector this is going to impact the most will be women.

I want to talk a little bit about the real consequences of this penalty rate cut. We know and have spoken about it in this chamber time and time again that there will be over 700,000 Australians worse off. We know that in Senator Bilyk's and my state there will be at least 40,000 Tasmanians who will be worse off. Not one of the 700,000 Australians are going to be better off. Can you imagine that you have suddenly been made aware that you are going to have this enormous cut in your take-home pay? And the real impact is that it will take 17 years for you to get back to where your current wage is today. The thing that those on the other side do not understand is that when families are impacted and have a cut like this to their take-home pay they never make up the difference. They keep falling behind. They do not have any reserves. If their washing machine breaks down, they just do not have the money to go out and buy a new washing machine. We who sit in government and in this chamber do pretty well on a monthly basis when we get our pay cheques, but these people do not. If you have never had to walk in the shoes of somebody who has to scrape their dollars together to be able to buy milk at the end of the week or to be able to pay for their children to go on a school excursion, then you have no understanding.

This is confirmation of the arrogance and of how out of touch Mr Turnbull and his liberal government are. They just do not understand what is happening out there in the community. Realistically, they have the opportunity to support this legislation. We can vote on this, and I clearly believe that they will be the last people standing. They are alone in this debate, because there is no greater conversation going on in my community. I see this when I go out and talk to people. They are everyday people who are having to confront the issues of trying to balance their weekly budgets, trying to meet their mortgage and trying to ensure their kids get a good education.

They can vote in support of this bill and get a little bit of credibility back. Quite frankly, nobody in the community trusts this government because, no matter what they touch, it turns to stone. We have seen in here the cuts that they have tried to make in budget after budget after budget. I met with the registered nurses who work in the aged-care sector and heard first-hand about the dilemmas that they face because they really feel that their penalty rates are going to be attacked as well. It is very powerful when you have a mature woman crying when trying to explain to you what the real impact is going to be.

It is not just Labor and the crossbenchers talking to their community about the impact that this is going to have. The strongest voices in this debate are those people who are going to be directly impacted. If those on the other side continue to campaign to attack the lowest paid workers in this country and also attack the multicultural society that we have developed in this country, with the racist changes that they want to make to section 18C, they do so at their own peril. You cannot keep cutting health and education without having an impact. You cannot change the child-care system in this country, so that some of the most disadvantaged young kids will not have the same opportunities for early childhood education, without having an impact.

I read in the newspapers Mr Turnbull's response to all these genuine issues in the community that people raise with us day in and day out. We have been taking phone calls. My office has never been so busy with constituents after the attacks on families and the Centrelink debacle where you attacked one person after another and it was totally unfounded. You cannot keep doing this without there being a reaction. If you keep attacking the most vulnerable in the community, they will rise up and ensure that you are banished. People cannot take the pressure that this government is continually putting on them. We have the highest level of underemployment in this country. You have increased the debt. Every other senator who comes in here wants to blame the previous Labor governments, but the reality is that the buck stops with you guys. You have now been in government for four years. It is time to take responsibility for your own actions. The Prime Minister promised so much before the last election but has delivered absolutely nothing.

A government cannot walk away from their responsibility to ensure that we have a good, strong workforce and highly skilled Australians. We have lost the car industry. We have lost the skills that are so important to this country. Sooner or later you will have to go to an election, and I have no doubt at all that people will not forget this. These are not issues that people will forget overnight. When you attack people's ability to support their families, they will not forget. We will continue to stand up in this chamber and in the community day in, day out. We are never going to walk away from those in our community who depend on us to do the right thing, to protect them. We will stand with Australian workers and we will defend their right to earn penalty rates.