Doorstop, Canberra

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
 

ALICIA PAYNE, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA:    Good morning, everyone. I'm Alicia Payne, the member for Canberra, and it's wonderful to be here this morning in Belconnen and to welcome the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Amanda Rishworth, to say that in our first week back in Parliament, this week, we're going to be prioritising protecting penalty rates. We've been joined this morning by retail workers from here in Belconnen to hear about just how important this is. Workers deserve their penalty rates when they're working outside of normal hours. It's important that that is respected, and it's important that they get to keep those penalty rates. And I'm proud that, as always for our government, we are prioritising workers rights, and in our very first week, are going to be introducing legislation to ensure that we protect those rights. So I'm really pleased that we're talking about this here in Canberra with local workers, and I'll now hand over to the Minister. Thanks.

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS:    Well, today, I am pleased to announce that we are one step closer to protecting the penalty rates of millions of Modern Award reliant workers. Of course, we know that there are 2.6 million Modern Award reliant workers, and many of them rely on penalty rates and overtime for their take home pay. The legislation we will be introducing next week will ensure that penalty rates are protected along with overtime. What the legislation will do will prohibit the ability to take away penalty rates and overtime in an award if anyone is worse off, we know that millions of workers do rely on the safety net of awards, and many rely on the penalty rates to make up their take home pay. Our government is absolutely committed to ensure that penalty rates are protected, and we will take that step in the first week of Parliament. We know that there are a number of cases on foot in the Commission where workers take home pay could be reduced, and we want to make it clear in law that these penalty rates and overtime rates should be protected because we don't want people earning less and working harder. I might get Liarne to speak now.

LIARNE, RETAIL WORKER:   My name's Liarne. I'm a retail worker. I work from six to 11, Monday to Friday. My penalty rates are about $6.35 an hour, which is about $7,500 a year. That's really important because it helps me pay for rent, groceries, school fees and the care of my animals, which I love dearly. Penalty Rates are really important. I work with a lot of parents that don't get to have dinner with their families at night. They don't get to tuck their kids into bed, and I know that's really hard for them. It also was really hard for me, having a partner that worked an opposite schedule to me, because I would always come home and he would already be in bed. And so, it can be really isolating, and that's why I think penalty rates are so important. We also have to deal with often more challenging customers at night.

DANIEL, RETAIL WORKER:   My name is Daniel. I've been in retail for 17 years. For me, I average about $85 a week in penalty rates, which equals about $4,240 a year. That money often pays for vets, dentists, doctors and food. Generally, I find living on six to $700 a week is a struggle, whether you've got a partner to rely on or not. Penalty rates honestly makes a huge difference, and without it, I'd have to work more. See my family less, see my dog less, see my friends less. Just not go to the movies, not ever have a holiday. It's a myriad of things that would affect me.

JOURNALIST:   Minister, thank you for speaking to us first, why has this change on penalty rates taken so long?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Well, we have in the past relied on the objectives of the Modern Award to protect certain conditions within our award system. What's become clear is there is a number of cases on foot which are trying to roll in penalty rates or reduce penalty rates in an unfair way. And so, what's become clear is that we need added legal protection to make sure penalty rates and overtime are protected in our ward system.

JOURNALIST:   Minister, I wanted to ask you about the delivery of new Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Why this is an important investment for the war effort?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Our government has been absolutely committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against the incursions by Russia. Of course, we've been working very closely around what operational capability with the Ukrainian Government, and this is part of that.

JOURNALIST:   We understand that former Labor Leader Mark Latham, will be making a statement today as there are calls for him to be investigated by the Privileges Committee in the New South Parliament. Are you concerned about the damage to Labor's image as Mark Latham goes through what he's going through publicly and the revelations come to light, and would you like to see him investigated by a Privileges Committee?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Well, firstly, I would say that some of the reporting about Mark Latham's behaviour is disgusting and is quite shocking. Obviously, that is a matter for the New South Wales Parliament, but I do think that when this type of alleged behaviour is reported on, it needs to be investigated. Mark Latham is not a member of the Labor Party. He has not been a member of the Labor Party for many, many years. But irrespective of that, this alleged behaviour that is being reported is appalling and is really shocking. And of course, the New South Wales Parliament should take all necessary steps to investigate it.

JOURANLIST:   Do you think his picture should be taken down from the caucus room?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Oh, look, that is a matter under current discussion at the moment. I think there'll be more to say in coming days, but I would reiterate that some of the reports that have been made about the language and behaviour are pretty shocking. Thank you.