Ms ROXON (5:40 PM) —I wish to raise two matters on the adjournment tonight. Firstly, I wish to add my expressions of concern and sympathy to the many other expressions that have already been made in this House towards the thousands of Turkish families who have suffered as a result of the devastating earthquake that has occurred in Turkey. I would like to formally acknowledge the distress and concern that this causes for our Turkish community in Australia and, particularly, for the large Turkish community in my electorate—and, of course, closest to home, for my Turkish staff member, Fatih Yargi. I would like to record that my thoughts and best wishes are with him and with the community in this most difficult time.

Secondly, I would like to raise a rather distressing employment matter which has occurred at a shirt manufacturing company in my electorate called Braybrook Manufacturing. This company employs about 70 people. The staff at this company—mostly migrant women over the age of 45, a large number of whom have been employed by this company for over 30 years—were told last week that the company was to be put into voluntary administration. Not only were they told that the company was to be put into voluntary administration but they were informed by the company that there were not sufficient assets for them to be paid their entitlements. These entitlements between the 70 workers add up to about $1.8 million. Their bare award entitlements are $700,000.

These workers—these migrant women—are paid about $340 a week. They are not coalminers in New South Wales or elsewhere. It is ironic that I raise this matter in the adjournment debate today, on the very day that Minister Reith introduced into the House a bill to deal with the Oakdale circumstances. I know that everyone in the House is delighted that an appropriate arrangement has been able to be made for those families, but it is vitally important that the minister understand—as I am sure he does—that action needs to be taken more broadly on this issue, that the question of employee entitlements is something that this government must deal with as a matter of priority and that we cannot constantly have people in the mining industry, in the textile, clothing and footwear industry and in the meat working industry going without their legal entitlements.

It is of great concern to me that these workers may not have any recourse to their entitlements and, as the local member, I will be doing all that I can to try to make sure that their circumstances will be looked after. I know that their union, the TCFUA, has already been taking some action in this regard and, in fact, has written to the minister. I would like to read just the final paragraph of the letter that has been written to the minister from Michelle O'Neil, who is the Assistant Secretary of the TCFUA. She is in the unfortunate position of having to deal with similar circumstances often in her industry, and she has been pushing, as has the union, for a long time to try to get the government to address as a matter of priority the issue of workers' entitlements. She says in the last paragraph:

My members have asked me to write to you to seek your absolute assurance that you will guarantee that they receive the money to which they are entitled in the event that they lose their jobs. A woman clothing worker in the western suburbs of Melbourne has as much right to justice as a miner in New South Wales.

I think that that is a sentiment that all in this House can clearly understand. I might say, in case it was misinterpreted, that certainly we support and I support the arrangements that the government has reached in respect of the Oakdale miners. It is a great outcome for those members, their families and the union, the CFMEU. It is a credit to their campaign and their persistence, and certainly they had to drag the government kicking and screaming into actually taking some action on this issue.

But we should not be too over the top in our excitement that the Oakdale miners were able to get their entitlements. It is, after all, what they were legally entitled to and should have been able to claim directly from their employer. It is not as if they have won any new standards. It is something that every worker in Australia should be able to expect. They are entitled to be confident that they will receive their legal entitlements.

I encourage the government to address this issue as a matter of priority, to not be distracted with 300 pages of amendments in the ridiculously named Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (More Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 1999 , but to actually look at improving what is the most pressing priority for workers in this country, and that is addressing their job security and their award entitlements.