Address to the House of Representatives, Adjournment

Thursday 24 July 2025

This morning, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 was introduced. This bill will directly protect an important plank of the living standards of many Australians: penalty rates. We have seen far too much politics going to deliberations and discussions on the wages and conditions of working people. For too long, the living standards of Australian workers were batted around like a political plaything by those opposite when they were in government. In government, they deliberately had a policy that suppressed minimum pay rates and stalled genuine enterprise bargaining. We began to restore balance to workplace relations in our last term, and now, with this bill, penalty rates will be protected.

Our government will also be tackling the important issue of payday superannuation as a matter of priority in this term of parliament, with implementation commencing on 1 July 2026 subject to that legislation going through the House. Labor has always been the party of fairness and the party of superannuation, and payday superannuation will be better for both employers and workers, making super payments easier to track and compounding those payments, leaving a larger nest egg for retirement for Australia's workers. This legislation will also help with unpaid superannuation—a scourge for too long. Analysis and reporting suggest that in my seat of Bean just over 13,000 workers were missing out on $27 million in super entitlements in the 2022-23 financial year alone. This is unacceptable. Bringing in payday legislation will be good for workers in Bean and around the country. I will always stand up for workers in Bean getting their fair share. Let's get this part of the puzzle done as well.

In the 48th Parliament, we have a historic Labor majority and a historic number of women on the government benches, and we have a historic opportunity to make our nation stronger and fairer. That work has already begun, this week. We've heard the first speeches of many members of this parliament who will make a significant contribution to those ongoing efforts, and I also look forward to being part of these efforts in the 48th Parliament.