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

This week the Morrison government have confirmed two things: (1) they can't get their nasty plan to get rid of the better off overall test through this parliament; and (2) they are still determined to cut your pay. In the words of Christine, a cleaner and United Workers Union member:

There will always be bad bosses. We do not aim to make it easier for them to cut wages and change the limited working conditions we already have.

Christine is one of my heroes this week because she had the courage to speak out publicly about the government's plan to cut workers' pay. She, along with thousands of Australian workers, has sent a strong message to all of us in this place, and that message is to completely reject the government's nasty industrial relations bill. Today, along with Christine, I want to recognise the courage of Karen.

Karen is the registered nurse and ANMF member who came to testify at public hearings on the government's plan. Despite turning up to the hearings on time, prepared and ready, Karen was denied the opportunity to speak. She was denied the opportunity to tell her story, so I will tell her story here. This is what she wants to tell Scott Morrison and everyone in this place: 'We are the backbone and the forefront of our healthcare system. We are the ones who know our patients. We are the ones who keep our patients comfortable and safe. We're the ones that reassure our patients and their families. We are the ones that care for them at night, all night, when most other people are tucked up in bed. We are the ones who work weekends, doing what we always do, missing out on kids' sports and family functions. We are the ones who cheerily spend Christmas Day with our patients, while missing out on our own.' And she says: 'To allow the possibility of removing the protection of EBA standards is a slap in the face of myself and all the other nurses in the country who, without question, sacrificed so much for our community.'

So Australians should not be fooled: the government's backflip on the better off overall test this week will not protect Australians from being worse off under this bill. Jules is a hospo worker and a member of the Hospo Voice union. She sees right through the government's spin. Jules says: 'The government has worded and spun the bill in a way that sounds like it's friendly to workers. After all, increasing flexibility and ending the confusion of casualisation sound pretty good, right? Wrong. When you get into the nuts and bolts, workers end up getting less.' She is right. There are wholesale changes in the government's bill that will mean more low-wage and non-union agreements, exactly when Australians need a pay rise to keep their heads above water. And there are wholesale changes in the government's bill that will make more workers casual, exactly when Australians are crying out for more job security. There are wholesale changes in this bill—this nasty plan—to make part-time work casual, exactly hurting our essential workers, who need regular, secure hours to make ends meet and to care for their own families.

The experts have spoken on this bill, and I'm talking about the workers, like Christine, Karen and Jules, who have spoken out about this government's nasty plan. They already work hard for wages that are, at best, modest. They are the people we've called on again and again in this pandemic to keep us safe and to keep our community moving. Cleaners, nurses, hospo workers—these are the people who fought for us during the pandemic. They should not have to fight a pay cut that is being inflicted by their own government. But today I stand with them and I congratulate them for having the courage to stand up and do just that.