David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

With Labor's last tranche of industrial relations legislation moving through the Senate, with amendments to protect the right of independent contractors to remain independent and for tradies to continue to run their businesses as they have, we need the Labor government to turn their attention to security of payments and the issues that tradies across this country face when it comes to simply being paid for work they have already done.

In 2023 a staggering 2,349 construction firms collapsed; that represents nearly a third of all businesses that collapsed last year. And what's the government doing about tradies that are left out of pocket? So far, absolutely nothing. And it's not like this problem has just surfaced. Nearly seven years ago, John Murray did the Murray review and made 87 recommendations which address these very issues. We need to see the Murray review recommendations acted on. The 2021 ALP National Platform said that the recommendations in the review must be implemented immediately. Immediately means now—with urgency. We can't allow tradies to continue to be out of pocket for work that they've already done when the head contract falls over. We can change this. We have this report with a model that will work, and what's missing is the political will. I urge the Labor government: turn your attention to supporting tradies, who will be at the forefront of solving the housing crisis and the transition to renewables.