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Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Page: 13273

Workplace Relations

Mr CHEESEMAN (Corangamite) (14:08): My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the government securing a fair deal for some of Australia's most vulnerable workers and delivering a better future for working people?

Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:08): I thank the member for Corangamite for his question and I thank him for his continued campaigning about the interests of working families in his electorate, including their ability to have fairness and decency at work. As a Labor government we are driven by meeting the needs of working people and by ensuring that people can get the opportunity that comes with the job and that there is opportunity around the nation as we continue to create jobs—there have been more than 700,000 jobs created since the government first came to office. We worked with employers, unions and the Australian community to keep our economy strong during the global financial crisis. As a result, we kept Australians in work.

But our depth of commitment to working Australians goes beyond the simple opportunity to have a job, as profound as that is for families and their living circumstances; it is also to make sure they enjoy fairness and decency at work. That was why we were so determined to kill Work Choices when we came to office, and we did. It was a dagger aimed at the hearts of working families when it came to the cost of living—they could have their penalty rates and overtime ripped off them—and it profoundly struck at our core belief that a fair day's work deserves a fair day's pay.

Motivated by that core belief, we think that a fair day's pay for a fair day's work should extend to Australia's working women. That is why we have ensured the industrial relations law of this country provides a proper principle of equal pay for working women who have been denied that protection for too long. There is no better example than the people who work in domestic violence shelters, with people with disabilities, in services for the homeless and in services for the mentally ill. There are thousands of these workers in our community and three-quarters of them are women. Nearly two-thirds have an industry qualification, compared to just over one-half in other industries, but on average they get paid $12,000 less a year than the average Australian worker. I am very pleased and proud that we have been able to work with their union, the Australian Services Union, as well as employers in the sector to go to Fair Work Australia and drive to get these workers equal pay.

In addition to getting these workers equal pay we want to make a difference to the nation's truck drivers. I think everybody knows that truck drivers work long and hard for the money that they receive. Working long and hard can sometimes mean that they end up with problems of speed, fatigue and dangerous work practices. Around 250 people are killed each year from heavy vehicle accidents and more than 1,000 people suffer injuries on the road. This industry continues to have the highest incidence of fatal injuries compared to all other industries, with 25 deaths per 100,000 workers, which is 10 times the average for all industries. We want to change that by ensuring there is a tribunal that can work with this industry so that truck drivers enjoy safe rates and Australians see safer roads. This is another Labor initiative for working Australians, who do it very tough indeed and are entitled to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.