Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Completely unrelated to my statement today, I'd like to take the opportunity to do a huge shout-out to Dot from Yarrawonga. Thank you, Dot, for being such a kind, hardworking community member and enthusiastic Voice supporter. Your work is very much appreciated.

I'd also like to congratulate the mighty TWU for their historic win in the High Court yesterday, a huge win for workers. This decision was made possible thanks to the ongoing advocacy of the mighty Transport Workers Union. Transport workers were among the first in Australia to be stood down at the start of the pandemic. I commend the brave unionists who have been fighting this battle from the very start, including national secretary Michael Kaine, Vic/Tas secretary Mike McNess and assistant secretary Mem Suleyman.

In March 2020, Qantas embarked on the biggest mass sacking in Australian history. Over 1,700 cabin crew and airline staff were unlawfully sacked, tossed to the side to face increasing uncertainty despite their years of loyalty to the flying kangaroo. The Transport Workers Union took the injustice against these workers to the Federal Court and won—twice. When Qantas appealed to the High Court, they thought they could get away with it.

For too long Qantas has exploited labour hire loopholes and price gouging on ticket fares. Right now, cabin crew working on a Qantas flight are employed across 14 companies and contracts, each owned by Qantas and each with worse wages and conditions. Some of Qantas's labour hire cabin crew are earning less than half that of their directly employed co-workers while doing the same work on the flight. They also miss out on penalty rates and job security.

It's time we fixed this broken system that lets dodgy bosses make record profits with rock-bottom standards and unfair working conditions. Yesterday the High Court unanimously ruled in support of workers. When the closing loopholes bill is before us in this chamber, I sincerely hope this parliament will stand in support of workers too.