Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It can't come soon enough: that was the message from Central Queensland coalminers Simon and Ron. Over three years, Simon and Ron have been standing side by side in calling for urgent action on closing the labour hire loophole. They work at the same mine a few hundred kays from Rockhampton. Simon is a permanent worker and Ron is a labour hire worker. Despite his decades of experience, Ron doesn't get the same pay or conditions that Simon gets. The difference? Well, that's money not going into Ron's pocket and not being spent in local businesses in regional Queensland.

Sadly, Ron's experience is not unusual, especially in regional Queensland. Thousands of workers have been impacted by the same legal loophole that means they can work at the same place, do the same tasks and be on the same roster yet receive substantially less in wages. They even have to work on Christmas Day without the same penalties.

Imagine for a moment what it would feel like to be one of the thousands of workers like Ron across Australia. That's why the Albanese Labor government is taking action to close this loophole by introducing legislation today. Closing these loopholes can't come soon enough for workers like Ron and Simon and the regional community that they call home. Now, we know that mining executives will fight these reforms tooth and nail, because, despite BHP being responsible for the country's biggest wage theft scandal, they continue to exploit this labour-hire loophole. But what will the so-called 'battlers from the bush' from the LNP in Queensland do when presented with an opportunity to stand up for mining workers in regional Queensland? They will do what they have done time and time again— (Time expired)