Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Watt. Last year those opposite opposed the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill. They just saw the title and knew they were against it. How are secure jobs and better pay helping ease cost-of-living pressure and getting wages moving again?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Polley—someone I know is very interested in ensuring that Australians have secure jobs and better pay, along with every other senator over here. What a shame we couldn't find one senator over on that side of the chamber.

No, you can't put up your hand for that one, Senator Cash. You're not about secure jobs and better pay. You're not about that. And Senator Cash, you'll be very pleased to know that the Albanese government has delivered today's ABS labour force figures, which show that the unemployment rate remained at historic lows of 3.7 per cent.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How about that?

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How about that? That sounds like secure jobs to me, Senator Gallagher. And employment has actually increased by 55,000, exceeding all market expectations, and female employment has increased by 37½ thousand. So, well done to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher, and all others involved in delivering that.

The Albanese government does know that a lot of people are doing it tough right now, and that's why we're doing everything we can to get wages moving: secure jobs, better pay. We were for both; you were for neither. It's why we supported an increase to the minimum wage not once but twice. It's why we supported decent pay for aged-care workers. And who can forget Senator Colbeck and others muddling their way through why they couldn't support a pay rise for aged-care workers? We remember that. And do you know who else remembers it? The aged-care workers. They remember the coalition not supporting a pay rise for some of the hardest-working people in our community.

It's also why we passed our secure jobs, better pay legislation—that bit of legislation that, from the coalition's point of view, was doomed as soon as we came up with that name for the bill: secure jobs, better pay, two things the coalition is absolutely allergic to. We know that our legislation is getting wages moving again and improving conditions. We do know that Australians are doing it tough. We know we're going to have to keep working hard on this. But bypassing that legislation we're getting wages moving again and creating more jobs, which is exactly what we said we would do.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, a first supplementary?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Despite wages increasing, not everyone is seeing wage growth flow through to them. Some employers are using loopholes to undercut workers' pay and conditions—no surprises there. Why do we want to close loopholes that allow people to be underpaid? And how is the Albanese Labor government acting to close these loopholes?

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Polley. Now, I don't know about you, Senator Polley, but I find it pretty appalling that while you were talking about loopholes that are leading to workers losing pay we had Senator Ruston, Senator Cash and a number of others over there laughing about that.

I don't think it's a laughing matter that workers get ripped off through loopholes left in your legislation. I don't think that's very funny. I think that's a serious matter, and I think it's something that should be rectified. So, perhaps you'd like to reconsider your position on that.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order on my left!

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand why the opposition is embarrassed every time their refusal to close those loopholes is pointed out. I'm sure you'd agree that nobody is missing out more than those who are having their wages stolen. Currently, if a worker steals from an employer, it's a crime—as it should be—but if an employer deliberately steals from their worker, in most places in Australia it is not a crime. That is backward, ridiculous logic that is being endorsed by the coalition in their refusal to help us pass this legislation. There's never a good time for a pay rise if you're a coalition senator; there is if you're a Labor senator. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, a second supplementary?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that workers should never have to choose between their safety and their pay. How have the government's actions to close the loopholes been informed by the lessons of the past? Workers in this country know that they can rely on us. Those on that side—there are no surprises as to how they act when they're in government.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Polley—and again we hear laughter from the other side, when you ask about workers choosing between their safety and their pay. Well, there are nine quarters in the history of the wage price index where wages increased by less than two per cent. Guess who was in government on every single one of those nine occasions? That's right: it was the coalition. The coalition was in power for all of those nine quarters when we saw wages increase by less than two per cent I guess that's because they were for once telling the truth when they admitted that low wages were a deliberate design feature of their economic strategy. They delivered. Congratulations! You delivered the low wages that you said you were dedicated to—nine quarters.

We know that those opposite don't stand up for workers, we know that low wage growth is a deliberate design feature of their economic architecture and we know that the previous Liberal and National government did nothing to stop the wage theft epidemic, despite dozens of underpayment scandals on their watch.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on notice.