Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I note the horrific and devastating figure of 600,000 jobs being lost in April and the effects on Australian families and communities right across this country from restrictions and business shutdowns. We look at the figure of one in five people, and we look at the issue of underemployment, a significant plague on this country prior to COVID-19. We look at those hard-hit workers who are not receiving support—casuals with less than 12 months with a single employer, workers in the arts and entertainment industry, local government workers and, of course, many workers right across our markets.

The JobKeeper wage subsidy was a very good idea, but it's been incredibly badly implemented. Throughout this discussion on JobKeeper, we've been constructive, supportive and responsible, but too many Australians have been left out and left behind—some accidentally but clearly many deliberately. From day one, we've seen that the scheme should have been better targeted so that people who really need it can get it and we don't waste taxpayers' money.

It's laughable, as we're talking about what we should be doing about JobKeeper and dealing with this crisis and these unemployment figures, that we have Minister Dutton commenting that it is 'laughable', as he said, that the Queensland government are going to invest $200 million into revitalising Virgin and saving 16,000 jobs. The only thing that's laughable is obviously Minister Dutton. Quite clearly, he might be better off concentrating on his day job, because he's not able to stop plague boats coming to this country, causing undue harm right across the economy and causing people to lose their lives. His failure has cost this country and those individuals who have been directly affected.

It's quite clear that we need to have a policy that turns around and includes those people who have been left out. Earlier today, we had a motion regarding Dnata workers. The government and One Nation decided to abandon 5,500 workers at Dnata. We've seen the Prime Minister, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, announce, 'Australians know we've got their back,' but very quickly it became clear that JobKeeper would not have the backs of hundreds of thousands of Australians and their families. That is why we tried to introduce legislative amendments to make sure that those people were given the protections they needed, including those I have already mentioned as well as migrant workers and international students, who pay tax and come here in good faith. These amendments, of course, were defeated by the government, who are uninterested in helping those taxpaying workers. We saw on numerous occasions that the government moved to exclude, from 1 July, Australian workers in universities and, as I've mentioned, Australian workers at companies that are ultimately owned by foreign sovereign entities. It was outrageous that a cruel stroke of the pen left thousands and thousands of families out in the cold.

The government has short-changed this country and short-changed all those hundreds of thousands of workers across this country. Workers in Dnata have been striving to make sure that, when the aviation industry comes back, their vital operations will allow the tourism industry to be ready to boom to get us snapped back. This government is adamant about having snap-off, not defending Australian workers or appropriately supporting and having the back of every Australian. They are applying double standards to hardworking Australians and others who have been paying their taxes. It's incredibly important, with the struggles ahead, that jobseeker is properly allocated to support all the Australians and other taxpayers that we've mentioned on numerous occasions in this place. I implore the government to reconsider this, because they can make a difference with the stroke of a pen. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.