Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Earlier this year I met with Lydia and Delo, two women originally from the Philippines living here in Canberra. They had been recruited to work as qualified massage therapists. They had been sponsored on 457 visas and had signed contracts which promised them legal pay and conditions. But when they arrived in Australia their employer took their passports from them, forced them to work 13 hours a day six days a week and kept them under constant surveillance. They were forced to live in an overcrowded house and were locked inside. They were banned from talking to family and friends and were forced to hand back part of their salaries, in cash, to their employer. All the time their employer kept the threat of deportation hanging over them, and their family members back in the Philippines were threatened with violence and harm if they spoke out.

There were two groups that helped those women. One was the Salvation Army and the other was the union movement—specifically the United Workers Union. So it's extraordinary that those groups have been excluded from this advisory panel; it is absolutely extraordinary. It was with the support of those groups that these women were able to bravely stand up, tell their story, and speak out and advocate on their own behalf for the justice that they so incredibly deserve. It is extraordinary that those groups are not participating in the government's Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group. Right now the likelihood is that, if an example of modern slavery is found in Australia, it will be a union, a human rights organisation, a faith organisation or a social service organisation that finds it. It is also these organisations that are working directly with the workers who are impacted by modern slavery for them to be able to speak out and fight for justice. It is these very organisations that have been advocating for the type of supply chain reform that senators on the other side of the chamber have been talking about. These are the people who have been advocating for this reform. So this is not optional. It is absolutely critical that this expert advisory group include these organisations in the discussions about how we, as a country and as a society, can best tackle this tragic issue.

Last year I met with a group of farm workers who had similar experiences in my home state of Victoria. Their experiences were very much located in a supply chain of exploitation, with supermarkets at the top. Mahali was one of the workers who told me about contractors paying workers $10 an hour to pick fruit, lettuce and herbs not far from where I live in Victoria. Danial told me about how the farm labour contractors are setting this up. They're charging thousands for a visa application, they're taking workers' passports off them on arrival and they're leaving the farm workers trapped in these exploitative conditions. Farm workers are unable to go home and are terrified of speaking out and being reported to immigration, so it takes incredible courage for them to speak out.

Of course, the organisations that are helping them speak out are the unions. That is why we need the union movement to be included on this expert advisory group. I really welcome the government's decision to establish this group. It is absolutely vital that this committee exists to inform the government on responses to combating modern slavery in supply chains. It's an incredibly important step, and we need to get Australia's response right. Again, it just cannot be the case that the very organisations that work directly with the victims of modern slavery are excluded from this advisory group. Out of the 10 appointments made to the advisory group, they overwhelmingly represent business and employers, and that is just not good enough.

Contrary to the comments made on the other side, of course we welcome business and employers being on that advisory group, but we want to see balance. We want to see the people who have been advocating for and speaking out with these workers who've been exploited, who've experienced this modern slavery, to be included in the discussion about the solutions. That is all we are asking for in this matter of importance debate today. The advisory group has received 70 applications to participate from organisations in the union movement and civil society, including the ones I mentioned before. Let's pay some respect to the organisations that have been doing the work to advocate and speak out with these workers. (Time expired)