Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to continue on with a speech that I started last week looking at the Abbott government's desire to get rid of penalty rates. Last week, I drew links between the North Sydney Forum, John Hart from the association Restaurant and Catering Australia and Mr Joe Hockey. As we know, Mr Hockey wrote the terms of reference of the Productivity Commission's inquiry. This week, I want to continue my remarks around penalty rates, but really look at penalty rates from a workers' perspective.

Certainly, the government is determined to cut penalty rates. Do not believe the weak assurances that they may give; we just need to look at their actions. If the Abbott government is really not interested in cutting and taking away penalty rates, it would have specifically quarantined them from the Productivity Commission review, which it has not. The Productivity Commission has free range to examine all aspects of work. In fact, the entire workplace relations framework is under the Productivity Commission's spotlight.

The Abbott government has demonstrated time and time again it does not understand penalty rates. If it did, it would not be on the destructive path to reduce the take-home pay of around 4.5 million working Australians. Millions of Australians rely on their penalty rates to make ends meet, to pay the bills, to educate and care for their children and to look after their families. Most of us rely on penalty rate workers to deliver out-of-hours and weekend services. But the Abbott government, as demonstrated by its actions, simply does not understand this. The Prime Minister went even further when he said to penalty rate workers:

If you don't want to work on a weekend, fair enough, don't…

What a ridiculous statement to make. It shows, once again, how out of touch the Prime Minister and his government are.

There are very, very few areas of our community that do not rely on services provided out of hours or on the weekend. I want to give voice to these workers and the services they provide. I have taken these comments from the United Voice submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into the workplace relations framework. It is a publicly available document, and it is about time the government took a long hard look at it and made their view clear on penalty rates. I would like the start by quoting from Ericka, a nurse from Western Australia:

I am the sole breadwinner in this household. I’m a nurse. The work I do is hard work, it’s caring for others, it’s being there at odd times, when others have knocked off, it’s missing out on friends and family. There’s no work-life balance anymore. The penalty rates help keep our heads above water. Knowing I have job security is one of the things I truly value. And I’m not alone in this. There are so many others like me, we don’t (can’t) go backwards after working so hard for what we’ve earned. Please don’t make things any harder.

I would now like to put the voice of Naomi, a casino worker from New South Wales, on the record:

With three children, working weekends is my only option for our household to survive. To be working in an industry that operates 24/7 with weekends being the busiest, I have sacrificed on children’s birthdays, family functions and sports just to make ends meet. Penalty rates have helped tremendously. Take penalty rates away means more time away from my children and daycare that we simply cannot afford :(

Margaret-Ann, an aged-care worker from Western Australia, says:

We get a poor wage for the work our job in the aged care sector entails.

I will add, before we hear more from Margaret-Ann, that Margaret-Ann probably earns between $19 and $21 an hour without her penalty rates. And I suspect she works part-time—around 30 hours per week. Margaret-Ann goes on to say:

Working public holidays and late nights are part and parcel of what we do and we have no option but to work these shifts and days. So please give us appropriate remuneration for this. What we do … it’s more than a job! Please allow us a living wage, one with job security and the means to pay our bills.

I will just refer back to the Prime Minister's words when he said to workers like Margaret-Ann, 'Fair enough; if you don't want to work weekends then don't.' If Margaret-Ann stops working weekends, who cares for the aged Australians that she looks after on the weekends and on night shift? How does the Prime Minister even contemplate that that work would be done if the Margaret-Anns of the world did not give up their home time and do that valuable work?

Lindy, a hospital services worker from Western Australia, says:

We don’t choose to work odd hours—we HAVE to! Unfortunately, sick people don’t go home at 5.30 every night.

Again, Lindy's words just show how out of touch the Prime Minister is. Does he seriously think hospitals close at 5.30? Or does he think they staff themselves? Who looks after the sick in our emergency hospitals if it is not people like Lindy?

Kirsteen, a hospitality worker from Victoria, asks:

Do you realise what it is like not to be there for your family and friends when they need you? Do you get to enjoy your Christmas Day? Easter? Do you know what it is like to struggle financially? Without my penalty rates, I don’t think that I would be able to pay my bi lls, let alone little luxuries.

Lara, a partner of a penalty rate worker, says:

I spent Christmas Eve alone and on Christmas morning my children sat waiting for their dad to come home from work before opening their presents. People like my husband who work in our emergency services give up a great deal to do their job. Cutting their pay through removing penalty rates is no way to thank them for the job they do.

Rhonda, from Victoria, asks the Prime Minister:

Could you live on $45 a day after tax? It doesn’t pay the bills or even put enough food on the table. So a Sunday shift penalty rate is a means of survival occasionally.

Colin, from security services in the ACT, says:

It’s hard enough to live with penalty rates, witho ut them it would be impossible.

Jackie, another hospital services worker from Western Australia, says:

The loss of penalty rates would be a major blow to me. I am a 60 year old widow. What I earn is what I have to live on. I work in the country. There is no public transport so I have to drive 60km each day I work. Penalty rates help to offset the fuel costs.

Where is the National Party on this? What is their view on penalty rates? Are they standing with the Prime Minister and Minister Abetz in calling for penalty rates to be abolished? If they are not, it is time to sever those links and to stand up for workers like Jackie who drive 60 kilometres a day to work in a hospital. Her penalty rates are precious to her. She is a single earner, and those penalty rates go toward putting the fuel in the petrol tank that she needs to get to work.

Make no mistake: this is a deliberate attempt by the Abbott government to attack penalty rates for working Australians. And they are not even being honest about it. They are doing it under the guise of the Productivity Commission. No doubt the Productivity Commission, with the terms of reference written by the Treasurer, Mr Hockey, for his mates in the hospitality industry, will come out and say that there needs to be some curtailing of penalty rates. I have no doubt that will be the outcome. The Abbott government will be standing there saying, 'Oh, not us, not us—the independent Productivity Commission has suggested this, so we want to go ahead and do this.' The Abbott government will be cutting 4.5 million working Australians, low-paid Australians.

We have already seen what a harsh, cruel government the Abbott government is. Whether the Abbott government wants to be up-front in its attack on penalty rates or whether it wants to hide behind the Productivity Commission, penalty rates are well and truly under the spotlight of this harsh, cruel government. Thankfully 4.5 million Australians work and they vote, and they know very clearly who supports their penalty rates and who does not. So let's see what the Productivity Commission recommends and what the Abbott government does when finally it will be exposed for its true agenda of reducing penalty rates for 4.5 million working Australians.