Fatima Payman (WA, 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. This morning the Senate passed the first part of the government's 'closing loopholes' reforms. How will the reforms in the closing loopholes bill benefit Australian workers ahead of the festive season?

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

Thank you, Senator Payman—who, like so many people over here, has done so much for Australian workers.

Today is an important day for Australian workers, employers and our economy. In the words of Senator Cash today, I say 'merry Christmas' to all the workers of Australia; 'merry Christmas' to the victims of wage theft, who now see an end in sight; 'merry Christmas' to our first responders, who are now protected as a result of our laws; and 'merry Christmas' to the many employers who do the right thing by their workers and for too long have been undercut by competitors doing the wrong thing.

Finally, I say 'merry Christmas' to people like Brodie Allen, a mineworker in Blackwater in Central Queensland—someone who you'd think Senator Canavan, Mr Fake Miner over there, would like to support, but, of course, we saw the opposite today. Mr Allen gave evidence to the Senate inquiry on our new laws while it was in Rockhampton earlier this year. Mr Allen has worked at the BHP mine—

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

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

Minister Watt, please resume your seat. Order across the chamber! Senator Canavan, order! Senator Green, order! Minister, please continue.

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

Mr Allen has worked at the BHP mine in Blackwater for seven whole years. That whole time he was employed as a labour hire employee, which meant he was paid $40,000 less each year.

Senator O'Sullivan, up the back, is groaning about the fact someone has been paid $40,000 less per year compared to their colleagues. That means, over seven years, Brodie is $280,000 worse off than his colleagues doing exactly the same work as him. Today, I say to Brodie that, as a result of the parliament passing our 'closing loopholes' laws, relief is in sight for Brodie and many others like him.

As a result of the laws the parliament passed today, labour hire workers will no longer be underpaid. But the record will always show that the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation today voted for workers like Brodie to continue being underpaid—and they will never forget it. Shame on you!

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

Senator Payman, a first supplementary?

Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister, for that response. I don't know why those opposite hate workers so much. This morning the Senate voted to close the wage theft loophole. How will the government's wage theft reforms protect workers' wages and ensure a level playing field for law-abiding businesses?

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

Thank you, again, Senator Payman. I think many Australians are surprised to know that, until today, it was not a crime for employers to deliberately steal from the wages of their employees. Today, this parliament has closed that loophole. Of course, many underpayments are not wage theft. Most underpayments are a simple mistake, and our new laws won't catch any of this with this new criminal offence. But these reforms, passed by the parliament today, will ensure that intentional cases of wage underpayment will be a crime, as it should be, and that is all as a result of the Labor government's laws. When the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation had a choice today, they voted to protect bosses who deliberately steal from their workers' wages. You voted against the bill. That's what it means. You voted to protect employers who deliberately steal wages from their employees—people like those working for 7-Eleven, who were paid their wages in full and were then forced by their manager to go to an ATM and withdraw cash. That's who you voted to back. (Time expired)

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

Senator Payman, a second supplementary?

Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister Burke has said that boosting and protecting wages is a key part of the government's plan to help Australians deal with cost-of-living pressures. What are the barriers Australian workers face to securing their wages, and how will the government's laws protect them?

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

Those barriers actually have a name. They're called Senator Cash, Senator O'Sullivan, Senator McKenzie, Senator Hughes, Senator Sharma—even the newest person to arrive here in the Senate voted today to deny workers their fair share and backed in the bosses who are doing the wrong thing rather than those who are doing the right thing.

The truth is that Senator Cash and the Liberal and National parties were caught flat-footed this morning. While Senator Cash was on Sunrise this morning stirring up more division, more focused on fighting than on fixing the problem, the Albanese government was working hard with the crossbench to close the loopholes that have kept workers' wages down. As I say, today the coalition had a choice to make. They could've voted to stop labour hire workers being underpaid and they could've voted to stop bosses deliberately stealing from their workers' wages, but, to quote Senator Cash, she said, 'I will always stand with the employers of Australia,' even when they're deliberately stealing their workers' wages, even when they're underpaying their workers. Shame on you! (Time expired)