Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023. I know this bill has drawn a lot of attention, and there are some present here today who are actively advocating for businesses to be able to pay their workers less than the minimum wage. I might criticise this government on a lot of things—you all know that—but this bill is actually good news for workers, and that's why I'll be supporting it fully. I'd like to thank Minister Burke for constructive engagement on this bill and commitment to gaining better outcomes for workers. I was one of those crossbenchers that Senator Wong forgot to mention when she mentioned the others who worked constructively with Minister Burke.

A lot of what is put forward in this split bill today is uncontroversial and much needed to finally make workplaces safer. Nobody should ever die or suffer lifelong consequences through their work. I'm thinking of all of those who have lost loved ones due to unsafe working conditions. While these families will never get to hold their loved ones again, the criminalisation of industrial manslaughter to reduce recklessness and negligence and the improvement of work health and safety provisions might at least bring them a little bit of justice and peace in knowing that hopefully others will not have to go through the same. The measures in relation to silica safety and silica related diseases are a much-needed and overdue change so that we don't lose more people to the asbestos of the 21st century.

As First Peoples of this country, we know what it means to have wages stolen. Wage theft, as the name tells you, is theft and yet has never been treated that way. People get criminalised for stealing petty things, sometimes just because they're struggling to survive. Yet employers have been getting away with undercutting and stealing employee wages for decades to maximise their profits. How is that not criminal? This is about people's livelihoods. It is time to stop dodgy businesses getting away with it.

The business lobby is incredibly powerful in this country, and the major parties are under way too much influence from it. An important part of countering this has been the strong union movement in this country. My family have long been a union family. Our people know oh-so well what it means to have their rights not respected. First Nations people across this country put up with discrimination and breaches of our rights in workplaces every day.

Workers of all kinds hold this place together—a shout-out to the cleaners and the working class in this place, who have to deal with the privilege of politicians every day of their lives. They provide essential services we all depend on every day. They deserve to have a safe, supportive workplace and to live decently from their hard work. We need strong unions to uphold workers' rights, the rights of all workers, because how can individuals ever counter the interests of big business? If we left it in the hands of big business, it would be a very fast race to the bottom. Unions provide a vital service to society, and I thank them all for doing this often vilified work. This bill's provision to strengthen delegate rights to ensure workers can have better access to their representatives, and delegates can have better access to workplaces, is a step in the right direction to support unions and the important work they do.

Let's talk about the family and domestic violence provisions of the bill. I know what it's like to live with that violence and try to show up to work, pushing on, pretending nothing is happening because of the fear of what consequences it could have on my jobs. Thousands of people, in particular women, go through that every day. As a society it is our duty to support people through these situations, not punish them further. I therefore welcome the stronger workplace protections against discrimination for employees who are survivors of family and domestic violence. Safer workplaces, free from discrimination and based on the respect of workers' rights, is not something that just concerns the working class; it applies to everyone, and everyone benefits—even employers. I would hope that we can all agree on this today so that we can make this a good day for workers in this country.