Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Prime Minister (Senator Brandis) to a question without notice asked by Senator Polley today relating to workplace relations.

It might be Senator Brandis's birthday today, but it certainly will not be a birthday present for any of the 700,000 low-paid workers who will lose penalty rates over the next few years as a result of the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the coalition—the rabble of a government over there—refusing to stand up for penalty rates for Australian workers. They are an absolute disgrace. They simply do not understand how important it is for workers in this country to have access to penalty rates, to put food on the table, to put shoes on their kids' feet, to pay the bills, to pay the rent, to pay the mortgage, to engage in society. They do not have a clue. They are a clueless mob, and all they have is this argument amount trickle-down economics. According to this mob, you can give $65 billion of tax cuts to business and that will create jobs.

Well, no-one around the world who has looked at what tax cuts have done in the UK or in the USA believes that absolute nonsense. This is a mob who are going to give $16,400 of tax cuts to millionaires but stay silent when it comes to the penalty rates of workers in this country. I have to say, at least George Christensen, the member for Dawson down in the other place, actually understands how important it is to protect penalty rates.

Senator Ian Macdonald interjecting—

Senator Macdonald can laugh and giggle all he likes. After many, many years in the Senate, he would never have had to worry about penalty rates. He would never have had to worry about putting food on the table. He has lived off the public purse for decades. Yet workers on penalty rates are not supported by Senator Macdonald, not supported by the Nationals party.

And I will tell you where the workers will be most affected: it will be in rural and regional Australia; it will be in areas where Senator Canavan lives; it will be in areas where Senator McKenzie lives; it will be up in New England, with Senator Williams. I wonder whether Senator Williams in New England has told the workers up there why he is supporting cuts to penalty rates, when he had an opportunity, when Labor moved protection of penalty rates in this place—why he voted against it. We know penalty rates are so important to the working poor in this country, yet this mob over here, on their $200,000 base salaries, do not have a clue about how important it is for workers to have access to penalty rates.

Even Senator Hanson, after her initial opposition to penalty rates, was forced to capitulate and support the Labor Party on that issue. If Senator Hanson can understand that, why can't the Nationals? If George Christensen can understand it, why can't the Nationals? I mean, One Nation are not the protectors of working class families in this country—far from it—but even Senator Hanson, with all her loopy ideas, with all her divided ideas, with all her hatred for some groups in this country, understood how important it was—eventually—to protect penalty rates. And she only did it for pure political purposes, because she does not really support penalty rates in this country. It is about time those opposite understood the difficulties for ordinary families, for the working poor, to put food on the table and to look after their families. For you lot on a basic salary of 200 grand a year to cut penalty rates is outrageous. (Time expired)