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

I want to take up the issue that has just been ventilated, and that is the scare campaign that Senator Cash is trying to run in relation to these amendments. I find it unbelievable that we can have a position where a minister can get up on a bill dealing with vulnerable workers and say that we are now going to have mum-and-dad renovators—young couples doing renovations—being subjected to a problem that's going to destroy the economy. I mean, this is just taking things far too far. This is about vulnerable workers. This is about this government not being prepared to take the next logical step, and that is to ensure that vulnerable workers are protected, whether they are working for a labour hire company, a franchisee or a franchisor. That's what this is about. There is absolutely no logic to what the minister has just been going on about, some scare campaign about home renovators. It just beggars belief.

We have seen some of the worst examples of workers being ripped off by labour hire companies working under the auspices of a farmer who knows that there are problems but simply turns a blind eye to those overseas workers being exploited—by the farmer or the labour hire company. This is about ensuring that everyone that's exploited gets a fair go. If it's good enough to ensure that there's no exploitation for workers in the franchising sector, it's good enough to ensure that the same principles apply across the economy for workers in other sectors of endeavour across this country.

I just noticed that the case involving Bruce Billson, the former cabinet minister, has been put to the committee in the lower house to look at whether he breached parliamentary standards by accepting funding from the Franchise Council while he was still a member of the government. I think there's a complete disregard from those opposite for doing the right thing when you can have a former cabinet minister accepting a job and being paid by the Franchise Council of Australia while he was still a member of parliament. That's what we've seen, and we see now that the Privileges Committee in the House of Representatives are having a look at that. Is it any wonder that Senator Cash is in there opposing aspects of our amendments that go to protecting vulnerable workers in this country? Is it any wonder, when her former cabinet colleagues are out there trying to stop workers who are in vulnerable situations from being looked after by appropriate regulations and appropriate laws in this country?

You never hear Senator Cash getting up and running an argument on behalf of exploited workers. It's always the fault of the trade union movement. It's always the workers' fault; it's never the fault of business. It's never the fault of those businesses that are handing millions and millions of dollars over to the coalition for their election campaigns. It's never their fault; it's always the worker. If you are unemployed, it's your fault you haven't got a job, even though there's no jobs out there for many unemployed workers. We know the situation with this mob: they are absolutely opposed to having decency in the legislative processes in this country.

It was only when it became clear that the 7-Eleven and Caltex situations could not be tolerated that they moved to do anything about them. They had four years to bring legislation to this parliament to try to prevent vulnerable workers being ripped off, but did they do anything? No, they didn't. They didn't do it, and it was Four Cornersit was the media—that was out there exposing workers being ripped off egregiously by employers in this country. It was only then that they were forced to take a stand and were forced to take anything to the parliament. They do not care, in my view, about looking after workers' rights in this country. That's why we had Senator Abetz, when he was the opposition—