Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Sheldon. I know the coalition has had difficulty getting its head around the concept of the right to disconnect, so let me again explain what it's about. It's about ensuring that workers are not required to respond to work emails and messages outside of their paid hours of work. So it's about reducing unfair, unpaid overtime. Of course, the right to disconnect is only one of many, many, many changes to the laws that we've made that the coalition voted against.

I think that change seems fairly reasonable to most working Australians. Of course, Senator Hume described adding more rights for workers as 'unreasonable'. Last year I spoke to a teacher here in the ACT, Jacob, who said: 'The right to disconnect actually allows us to have our own personal life. The right to disconnect—what it allows us to do is to make sure we actually look after our wellbeing.' How unreasonable of workers like Jacob to want to look after their wellbeing! Under Peter Dutton, you will be worse off.