Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for the Public Service, Assistant Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: It is great to be here with my Western Australian colleague, Senator Ellie Whiteaker. We have got some really good news today for those who work in the gig economy. Labor's world-leading laws, where we looked to close loopholes, today mean that gig economy workers who are doing food and drink delivery are finally going to get paid a guaranteed fair wage of $32 an hour as a minimum.
What that means is that your food will taste better, knowing that the people who are delivering it are getting a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. Labor championed these laws, and we are really pleased to see that today, for the first time, we have those guaranteed standards for food and drink delivery drivers, and they are going to get paid a fair wage.
Now, while Labor is trying to make sure that people are getting a fair wage, we see the usual characters of the Liberal Party and the National Party as well as of course, now, One Nation lining up to have another whack at superannuation. This time, saying they want people to be able to raid their retirement savings to pay for basic healthcare.
It was not that long ago, back in 1984, that the leading cause of bankruptcy in Australia was people going bankrupt because they could not afford their hospital bills. Labor created Medicare, and we fixed that problem. And now we have got One Nation wanting to go back to the bad old days. Where people had to raid their retirement and then retire in poverty just to pay for basic healthcare.
We should not be surprised that they opposed 137 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics and now want to smash the superannuation system. But Labor created super, and every day that Labor is in this Parliament, we will stand up for it. I will just let Ellie say a few words, then hand over to you all.
SENATOR ELLIE WHITEAKER, SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Every single day since coming to government, the Albanese Labor government has backed in Western Australians. We've opened all 14 of our Medicare Urgent Care Clinics that we promised, and we made them a permanent part of Medicare. We're working with the state government to build the homes that we need, with record investment to boost new housing construction.
And just a couple of weeks ago, the Prime Minister was in the Pilbara with Premier Roger Cook, announcing that we would jointly fund a pre-feasibility study to build a new oil refinery in Western Australia. It would be the first of its kind built in this country since the 1960s. And in my neck of the woods, in Perth's southern suburbs, we're investing billions of dollars in the Henderson Defence Precinct. And that would create 10,000 good local jobs.
This is evidence of our strong commitment to Western Australia. That commitment is rock solid, and so is our commitment to making sure that Western Australia receives its fair share of the GST. We fought for WA to receive its fair share of the GST from opposition, and Western Australians can be assured that we will always make sure that we receive our fair share.
What Western Australians should be really concerned about today is Pauline Hanson and One Nation coming out to take their superannuation. It wasn't enough for Pauline Hanson to come after paid parental leave. It wasn't enough for Pauline Hanson to come after early childhood educators. It wasn't enough for Pauline Hanson to come after penalty rates.
Now Pauline Hanson is teaming up with her mates in the Liberal Party and the National Party to come after working Australians' super. And I think that Western Australians, and indeed Australians right across the country, cannot afford the Liberal Party, One Nation, and the National Party teaming up to come after the very things that working Australians hold most dear.
JOURNALIST: Jane Hume has been out here just a few minutes ago saying that this is a concoction against the Coalition who've got no intention of changing super, and you guys have just [inaudible] and what do you say?
GORMAN: It is the Liberal Party that chooses time and time again to preference deals with One Nation. It is the Liberal Party who have got people like Senator Bragg out there saying that he does think that superannuation should be changed or be completely removed.
These are not statements of the Labor Party. These are the people that Senator Jane Hume sits in shadow cabinet with. Now I know they have got problems in their shadow cabinet - that maybe they don't check their policies with one another. But again, that is a problem for Senator Hume and not a problem for the Labor Party.
And what we do see when it comes to the proposal from Senator Hanson, to say that people should have to raid their super to pay for basic healthcare. I mean, that is something that would be on the table in a Liberal-One Nation government.
Because what we know is that they, on so many things, we have had Senator Hanson out there accusing Angus Taylor of stealing her policies. I am pretty sure that the work that you are going to see time and time again, the Liberal Party and One Nation, collude against working Australians. They have never liked superannuation in the Liberal Party. You can go back decades to see that to be true. It is no surprise that they have now wound up One Nation to have an attack as well.
JOURNALIST: Taking money out of your super to pay for an investment property, for instance, is that not potentially an investment in your retirement savings?
GORMAN: Superannuation is for retirement. Now, we have seen time and time again the Liberal Party suggest that it should be used for a whole range of things. They have suggested that it should be used for buying houses. They have suggested it should be used to help victims of family and domestic violence.
Now we have got suggestions should be used to pay for basic healthcare. Superannuation is about having a decent retirement, and Labor believes that every Australian deserves that decent retirement, making sure that people can protect their superannuation.
And not have these proposals from the Liberal Party and One Nation, where people are being forced to dive into their super, time and time again, just as an excuse for the Liberals and One Nation to make cuts to health and cuts to education. Thank you.
