Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today's unanimous decision by the High Court was a victory for 1,700 workers. Three court judgements have now found it was illegal. I congratulate the workers on their hard-fought campaign alongside their union, the TWU. Damien, a 12-year veteran of Qantas who was sacked along with his colleagues, said this morning, 'The last three years have been horrendous for my colleagues and me. This is redemption for us today.' But the decision does not relieve the fact that Qantas has successfully used the Joyce labour loophole to split its workforce across 38 companies, including the disgraceful outsourcing of 1,700 people during the pandemic. Joyce's loophole has been used to destroy the fair pay and working conditions that Qantas workers used to enjoy and, in doing so, has set a blueprint that other employers like BHP are now using to do the same thing.

It is imperative that parliament passes the Albanese Labor government's closing-the-loopholes bill to ensure the dreadful treatment of those 1,700 workers by Qantas does not occur to other Australian workers as it is now. It is not surprising the Liberals and Nationals oppose closing the Joyce loopholes but it shows what they really are—a hammer that companies like Qantas and BHP will use to smash the Australian middle class.

Three years ago, 1,700 Australians were subject to degrading and inhumane treatment by their employer, while the Liberal and Nationals government stood by and explicitly cheered them on. Mr Dutton has stood by Qantas and Mr Joyce at every stage of this trial, while the Labor government has intervened in the case to support the workers. There could not be a clearer choice and decision about which side they are on.