Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Two years ago the Prime Minister said slavery never happened in Australia. Apparently, he's never heard of blackbirding in the 19th century. The truth is that blackbirding did happen, and it is still happening today. Last week, five courageous men from Vanuatu and Samoa, who were working on Australian farms on temporary visas, gave evidence to the Senate job security inquiry. The conditions of work they described are barely any better than in the 19th century.

Sergio came to Mildura from Vanuatu to pick grapes under the government's Pacific Labour Scheme. He was told he would be paid $2.50 for each box of grapes he picked. Sergio picks about 110 boxes on a good day, so $275 per day should have been the payment. But, at the end of the week, Sergio looks at his pay slip, and he has been paid $100 for a week of backbreaking labour—$100.

Aleki came to Warburton from Samoa under the government's Pacific Labour Scheme. He came here to earn enough money to support his parents, his wife and his eight children back in Samoa. He was told he would earn $25.41 an hour and work from Monday to Friday, so he could attend church on Sunday. Aleki and his colleagues worked just one day for that $25.41-per-hour rate, and then their employer told them that the contract was changing: instead Aleki would be getting paid $7 per tray of berries. Then that rate was reduced again and again and again. There was just nothing he could do about it. Aleki told us: 'We are being threatened. We're being told not to speak up.'

Talipope also came to Warburton from Samoa. He is in the same situation as Aleki. He and three others share one small, hot room. This is the only place they can go after work. Last year, some of them tested positive for COVID-19. They had to isolate in their room for 10 days together, in a small, cramped space. All they were given to survive on was four packets of instant noodles, six potatoes, one loaf of bread, one bottle of juice and a few bits of fruit. This is what four grown men with COVID-19 were told to survive on for 10 days.

I've also seen Talipope's pay slips and time sheets. They show that, in some weeks, Talipope worked 64 hours over seven days, with no days off—not even for Sunday church. For those 64 hours, he was paid just $100, because Talipope, like the other workers we heard from, is having hundreds of dollars of deductions taken from his pay every week. Workers have been charged hundreds of dollars to stay in slum accommodation, with four to six people to a room. They are being overcharged to ride in their employer's van to get to the farm. The labour hire company skims 80 per cent of their pay slip for all sorts of expenses—80 per cent. Thousands of people like Sergio, Aleki and Talipope are left with almost nothing. They can barely support themselves financially, let alone send any money home for their families.

It is a national disgrace. The government knows about it. We've had enough inquiries, task forces and reports. The company I've spoken about today is an approved employer, and it has a big tick from DFAT. All of this is happening in plain sight. Rather than fix it, the government has introduced a new ag visa that Minister Littleproud has said will be even less regulated than the Pacific Labour Scheme, which I've talked about today. The message from the government is that anything goes on Australian farms. Here's what Sergio told us: 'I came here to work for money. I did not come here as a slave.' The government has to act. It has a responsibility to act, and it's about time it acted.