Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

So far, what we've heard from the coalition is the same old, tired contributions they do in debates around industrial relations time in, time out, year after year. Always, it's the hatred of organised labour. They can't stand it. They can't stand workers getting an even go at negotiation. They can't stand workers organising for themselves. That has been at the heart of the contributions that we've heard thus far. What they keep talking about and what they refuse to accept is the fact that we've just had nine years of a government that deliberately kept wages low. Now, I didn't bell the cat on that; former senator Cormann did. He belled the cat on that.

This is a piece of legislation that is all about secure jobs and better pay. What Australian workers were left with after nearly 10 years of the coalition government was a bitter cocktail. What they were left with was a cocktail of an environment of insecure work, policies that were deliberately designed to keep wages low and a massive trillion-dollar debt. Each of those—count them off: one, two, three—can't be denied by those opposite. They cannot be denied; they are facts.

The bill I rise to speak on today will enable workers to bargain across enterprises and will clamp down on the scourge of insecure work across our country, particularly in my home state of Tasmania. The secure jobs, better pay bill implements our election commitment and delivers on some of the immediate outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit in September. This bill is the first tranche of the Albanese Labor government's workplace relations reforms, which are designed to modernise Australia's workplace relations systems and finally, after nine years of coalition government, get wages moving. This bill will bring Australian industrial relations up to speed with many countries around the world. Through industrywide bargaining, it will allow workers doing the same job to be paid the same wage. Industrywide bargaining will finally stop the practice of large corporations paying employees less than others in the same job and in the same uniform.

Tasmanians have received the short straw when it comes to wages and conditions, something which has not been helped by consecutive federal and state Liberal governments. Tasmanian workers earn on average $200 a week less than their mainland counterparts, equating to about $10,000 a year. On top of this, if you're a woman in Tasmania, you can further expect to take home $163 less than a male doing the same job. So, as well as battling insecure work and the lowest wages in the country, Tasmanians are also experiencing the highest rate of inflation of all jurisdictions. Despite wages currently growing at a slightly higher rate in Tasmania compared to the rest of the country, the difference is so small that Tasmanian workers won't actually catch up until the next century. Finally Tasmanians can take a breath and know that this government, the Albanese Labor government, will spend their time fighting for them. We're not wasting any time; we're making improvements to the workplace relations system so it can work better for everyone.

This bill will ban paid secrecy clauses in enterprise agreements, so workers can freely speak about their pay and conditions to their co-workers. Pay secrecy clauses are typically used to stop co-workers comparing their salaries and collectively pushing for pay rises, something those on the other side have, of course, spent a decade trying to stop.

We know that pay secrecy clauses are rife in the banking sector, and I want to congratulate the Finance Sector Union for the long and relentless campaign to have the practice outlawed. Hundreds of thousands of workers will be better off for this work. From the work of the Unions Tasmania secretary, Jess Munday, the secure jobs, better pay bill will deliver meaningful change to our industrial relations system, a system that has been failing Tasmanian workers for close to a decade.

I commend to the Senate the secure jobs, better pay bill and I urge senators to support the bill.