Page 872 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 22 March 2017
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Like many people in Canberra, I worked at the Hyperdome, Woden Plaza, the Canberra Centre and Belconnen Mall on Sundays, the weekends being the only time when I was free from university class work. I know that many employers already benefit from discriminatory pay rates for young people based on their age. At least, until this decision was made, penalty rates provided some support for young people.
However, it is not just young people who work in the industries affected. There are many people that work in retail and hospitality trying to raise children, particularly in single-parent households. It is incredible, therefore, that, in the Canberra Times, Andrew Wall described the purpose of weekend work as “a bit of pocket money” for young people.
We always knew that the Liberal Party does not stand up for young people, but this decision on penalty rates penalises some of the lowest paid people in our community, many of whom are not in education: the young, the middle aged, and older Canberrans. The Labor Party stands against the Fair Work Commission’s decision, and we will always stand up for workers.
The commonwealth government are by no means the independent, innocent bystanders that they have sought to portray themselves as. They own this decision, even if they do not have the guts to take credit for it. This Liberal government is the one that ordered the Productivity Commission to review penalty rates, the recommendations of which formed the foundation of this decision.
Penalty rates were originally initiated in recognition that Sundays are unsociable work hours, as they still are. There are increased financial costs to working on Sundays due to sparse public transport, but there are also personal costs. For the vast number of families with a parent working a five-day, nine to five job or with children at school, weekends provide the only opportunity to spend a full day together in each other’s company. Making these people work longer for less will force them to spend more time away just to pay the bills.
Many people still take time on the weekends to participate in community life, attending places of religious worship and generally spending time with family. The Liberal Party’s attack on the value of the weekend is an attack on the finances of families and the value of time spent with family. That is why this motion is so important. It is a discussion of values, the values of those opposite and their party. They are totally out of touch. I was happy to see Bill Shorten and Brendan O’Connor introduce legislation into the federal parliament to reverse this decision.
In Australia and throughout the globe, income inequality is steadily rising. We do not want the Americanisation of Australian incomes in this country, with income and social disparity. Under the Liberal Party, this is already happening to many Australians whose pay rises are struggling to keep pace with or are outright flagging behind inflation.
As Ms Cody mentioned, in a speech in February, the Treasurer, Scott Morrison, highlighted his concern about the negative effect of low wage growth on the Australian economy and government revenue. If he was truly concerned about low
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