I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to elders past and present.
I want to thank the IndustriALL General Secretary, Atle Høie, and congratulate his team on putting together a fantastic Congress.
I'd also like to recognise the work of Australian affiliates of IndustriALL and their work in bringing this great Congress to Sydney.
I trust the Australian delegation's commitment to hospitality is surpassed only by their commitment to solidarity.
I also want to particularly acknowledge my friend, Mining and Energy Union General President, Tony Maher.
Tony is retiring after 27 years in the job - an incredible achievement.
On behalf of all of us here, thank you for your lifetime of service to the Australian union movement.
I also warmly welcome all visiting delegates to Australia, and acknowledge your contributions to the labour movement and the lives of working people.
This is the first IndustriALL Congress held in Australia since the organisation was formed in 2012.
There are delegates here from nearly every continent, representing so many workers across the globe.
A powerful reminder that - by definition - union values are universal values.
Because although the challenges faced by the workers that each of you represent are unique and complex, we all live in a world that is increasingly uncertain.
Conflict, economic volatility and disrupted supply chains demonstrate that the challenges faced by workforces are global.
And that is precisely why solidarity must be global, too.
Why this congress - and IndustriALL as a movement - matters to all of us.
And it's why each of you are here in Sydney - to do what trade unionists do best.
Organise for better outcomes.
Discuss and learn new ways of solving complex problems.
To champion the dignity of work - and the security and safety that working people deserve.
And to amplify the voices of your members so their rights are protected and their demands are heard.
Friends, the world of work is always changing. And the way people work evolves as well.
But it is the shared task of reforming governments, working with unions, to make sure that the way it evolves delivers for working people.
To anticipate and create change that works for people.
To recognise when imbalances in the status quo have become baked-in unfairness.
And to act.
Because if left unchecked, if those imbalances are allowed to persist, they erode working people's rights and wages and lead to social exclusion and conflict that is against the national interest.
In 2022, I had the extraordinary honour of being elected Prime Minister of Australia, making the Australian Government an Australian Labor Party Government for the first time in almost a decade.
The industrial relations system we inherited then was suffering from years of not just inaction, but deliberate erosion.
Rates of collective bargaining were down.
Real wages were falling.
After an exhausting pandemic, our front line workers - in healthcare, aged care, retail and hospitality - were underpaid and over worked.
And serious work health and safety issues had been overlooked.
Contracting and casualisation were being increasingly used not as a legitimate option to provide flexible work in a dynamic labour market, but as a tool to undercut wages.
As if to rub it in, our conservative predecessors boasted that low wages were "a deliberate design feature of their economic architecture".
So when we came to Government - there was a lot of reform required.
That's why in 2022, we legislated our Secure Jobs, Better Pay laws.
Modernising the bargaining system and expanding access to enterprise and multi-employer, sector-wide bargaining.
Lifting wages and giving workers greater power, and a better deal.
Three years on and those laws are delivering.
The gender pay gap is at the lowest ever level since records began.
Coverage of collective bargaining has increased markedly - with more than 2.6 million Australians covered by enterprise bargaining agreements.
Real wages are up.
And entire workforces are benefiting from increased union coverage.
We acted on these reforms because we want Australian workers' protections and our industrial relations to reflect the reality of 21st century workplaces, and remain true to union values.
It is the pursuit of those same principles that underpinned our second tranche of reforms.
Same Job, Same Pay became law in 2023.
The principle of this reform is about a simple as you can get -
When there are two people working side by side at the same workplace, wearing the same uniform, working the same rosters, using the same skills - doing the same job - they should be getting the same pay.
To the people in this room that idea may seem beyond common sense, uncontroversial.
But it was not the reality.
After years of contracting, sub-contracting and the use of loopholes in labour-hire laws, the wages of workers indirectly employed in industries like mining, metals, abattoirs and aviation, were not just suffering, they were languishing.
Like the wages of miners employed indirectly by Batchfire's mine in Biloela, who were paid around $20,000 less than their permanent counterparts before Same Job, Same Pay.
That's an example of the system not working as it should.
That's an example of the law, as it stood, facilitating wage suppression.
Since Same Job, Same Pay came into force on 1st November last year, pay increases of up to $60,000 per year have been ordered in a range of workplaces, significantly lifting wages for thousands of people and increasing rates of direct employment.
Importantly too, Same Job, Same Pay has given back dignity to the workers it benefits.
Making sure colleagues working shoulder to shoulder are paid fairly, with the same wage, and putting an end to two speed-workplaces.
Same Job, Same Pay has changed lives.
For individual workers.
For their families.
For fairness.
Of course, this didn't come without a fight.
The usual suspects made the usual claims.
Claiming an improvement to the status quo would be detrimental.
But of course - Same Job, Same Pay didn't cause the sky to fall in.
And we knew it wouldn't.
Because the Australian Labor Party knows that fairness, decent wages and a workforce being treated with respect do not undermine economic growth - they contribute to it.
Our Government has never accepted the argument that prosperity can only come at the expense of working Australians' jobs, wages, conditions and dignity.
And our Government never will.
That's why we've supported four consecutive increases in the minimum wage.
And why we have protected weekend and overtime pay by enshrining penalty rates into law.
Because we want an economy where productivity and wages rise together.
Where businesses and workers thrive together.
Where growth and fairness are stronger together.
Friends, as trade unionists, each of you fulfil a unique and vital role in the civil society of your nations.
Amplifying the voices of those who struggle to be heard.
Fighting for fairness and pushing for progress.
Helping to secure a better lot in life for the people you represent, sometimes in the face of personal risk.
It is people like you standing up for workers, and governments working with you to back-in fairness that builds safer workplaces and a more economically secure future for all.
Those are the outcomes by which we must judge ourselves - governments and trade unionists alike.
And it's also why the work you do will always matter and will always be worth it - because of the positive difference you make to people's lives.
Friends, our mission is global.
Our values are universal.
And our purpose is eternal.
That's why solidarity is forever.
Have a great Congress.
