Zaneta Mascarenhas MP
House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra
Statements by Members
Tomorrow marks an important anniversary. It will be one year since Labor's closing-the-loophole reforms became law. This was fundamentally about safety, security and fairness for workers, making workplaces safer, making sure that jobs could be more secure and ensuring fair and better conditions for Australian workers. They gave casuals a fairer path to a steady job. These changes have made a big difference because for a decade the coalition kept wages low on purpose. This was their strategy, to hold workers down.
The opposition have confirmed they will repeal our closing-the-loopholes law—that's right, back to undermining workers in favour of big business. The right to disconnect? Gone. Fairer conditions? Scrapped. Secure jobs for the future? None. Instead, they'll push tax-free lunches for big bosses because looking after the top end of town is what they know and all they care about. They don't care about a fairer Australia. They don't want a fairer Australia. They want an Australia that only benefits the few at the top end. We will always stand up for workers. Labor will always stand up for a fair go. For one year, closing the loopholes has been doing exactly that.
