Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The cheek of this government to bring this bill back in here and try to insist on removing a change that this Senate put in to protect older workers—I am flabbergasted! We know this government has no respect for workers' rights, but this is rich even for them. This Senate did its job. We are not a rubber stamp. We did the job of amending this bill to put in place protections for existing workers so that they can't be sacked by an employer who can then hire someone else and get the benefit of a subsidy. So much for JobMaker! It's why this scheme has been called 'JobFaker'. This government won't even come at that basic protection for existing workers. Now, as we've all been standing here for the last 15, 20-odd minutes, we see that it looks as though Pauline Hanson's One Nation has joined with the government to sell out older workers, to remove the protections that this chamber put in place to ensure that people can't be sacked. I hope that their voters are paying close attention, and I hope that the voters for the government are paying close attention. Conventional wisdom has it that older voters might tend towards the conservative side of politics. Well, you've just sold out your own constituency!

The Senate is not a rubber stamp. We are here to amend laws, to scrutinise them and to improve them where we can. We did that job yesterday, and you folk cannot even come at a small amendment to protect workers from getting the sack so that your corporate mates can get free taxpayer money to hire two other people on insecure and precarious contract arrangements. This is a very low day for this government. It's a very sad day for older workers in this nation who this chamber protected yesterday. Now this government, with the support of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, is ripping away their protection. I understand those discussions are still underway, and perhaps they'll backflip yet again—I hope so. Older workers deserve protection. We are in a pandemic. It is hard enough as an older worker to find work, let alone keep work. This was a small protection to give them some job security that this government and One Nation are now forcing the parliament to remove. Shame on you!

I'm going to keep on talking because there are some discussions happening over there. I'm an eternal optimist, and I live in the hope that they will change their position yet again to their original position of ensuring that workers can get protection. I know you're not meant to say these things out loud, but here I am doing it, and we're on broadcast. This is what's happening: democracy is being sold out.

I believe we're in the committee stage. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I can ask a question of the Leader of the Government in the Senate. I'm really interested to know what offer was made to Pauline Hanson's One Nation in order to secure this backflip, to deliver you her votes and to ensure that you can remove the protections that this Senate gave to older workers from getting the sack. I don't imagine the minister's going to take up my invitation, because they don't actually have to stand up. We can ask them questions, and they can just stay seated. There's no recourse for senators to hold them to account. So we'll see. But I think the public deserves to know what deal was made. What did you offer, and what did they accept for them to do a 180 and sell out older workers? This is our democracy we're talking about. The Senate has a job to do. We are not a rubber stamp. I don't care if I've broken the rules in calling out what's actually going on in here. I would like to know what deal you did with them to get their support and abrogate and abandon older workers. Chair, I seek your clarification. Can I indeed ask the minister questions in this committee stage?