Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Payman—who, like so many people over here, has done so much for Australian workers.

Today is an important day for Australian workers, employers and our economy. In the words of Senator Cash today, I say 'merry Christmas' to all the workers of Australia; 'merry Christmas' to the victims of wage theft, who now see an end in sight; 'merry Christmas' to our first responders, who are now protected as a result of our laws; and 'merry Christmas' to the many employers who do the right thing by their workers and for too long have been undercut by competitors doing the wrong thing.

Finally, I say 'merry Christmas' to people like Brodie Allen, a mineworker in Blackwater in Central Queensland—someone who you'd think Senator Canavan, Mr Fake Miner over there, would like to support, but, of course, we saw the opposite today. Mr Allen gave evidence to the Senate inquiry on our new laws while it was in Rockhampton earlier this year. Mr Allen has worked at the BHP mine—