Page 4597 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019
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MS CODY (Murrumbidgee) (10.21): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
A long, long time ago in a parliament not very far away, the Australian government—I believe Mr Fraser had just become Prime Minister—ratified an international convention recognising workers rights as human rights. While nobody in this chamber is old enough to remember how good Australian workers had it at the time, and many were not even born, I am the daughter of a proud BLF member—and for anyone who has met my dad, Tim, he is generally keen to explain it.
Since that time, there have been a lot of changes in the Australian workplace, some for the better for working people, many for the worse. We banned racism and religious discrimination in the selection and promotion of workers, but we still see it here and there, rarely in advertising, but often in outcomes. The same could be said for sexism. The gender pay gap has been remarkably resilient. Women, on average, are still paid less, have less secure work, and are more subject to bullying and harassment.
Today, Australia has stagnant wages, falling job security, and an increasingly punitive workplace culture. The best force for the advancement of workers’ economic and social interests, trade unionism, faces one of the most hostile organising environments in Australia’s history.
Attacking the rights of unions to organise and protect workers rights has become a source of amusement for Liberal governments. Just the other week, the CFMEU was fined $50,000 because some of their members stood up for the right of women to have a toilet in the workplace. Nothing better can be expected of a federal Liberal government. The people of Canberra did not vote for it but, as democratic socialists, we have to accept the decision of the rest of the country. However, that does not mean that the workers of the Australian Capital Territory have to cop it. Wherever and however we can, we should be protecting workers rights. And we will.
The ACT Labor government, through the terrific work of Chief Minister Barr, Minister Stephen-Smith and, now, Minister Orr, has been ensuring that companies that work for the government treat their employees and contractors fairly. Every week, though, we see stories of wage theft in the news. It is an absolute credit to the journalists of this city that they keep telling those stories, stories of people who are ripped off, bullied or discriminated against in the workplace. One of the scariest ideas, one of the biggest problems, is that wage theft, workplace discrimination and horrible management are becoming a norm in the Australian workplace. One of the cruellest behaviours of despicable leaders is convincing people to give up on the rights they really do have.
I believe we should pick up on the idea promoted by Mr Whitlam and advanced by Mr Fraser, an idea that seemed unnecessary in the days of Mr Hawke and Mr Keating; an idea put on the “never ever” by Mr Howard; an idea that seemed unattainable under Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard; an idea dead, buried and cremated by Mr Abbott,
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