STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms LAWRENCE (Hasluck) (13:50): Fairness demands that our workplace laws keep pace with the way Australians actually work. Back home in Hasluck and across the country, people are earning a living through app based platforms and other forms of gig work. They deliver meals, they transport passengers and they provide essential services that we are all using every day.

But, for too long, too many of these workers have faced uncertainty, with little bargaining power and inadequate protections when things go wrong—and they do. For 10 years, those opposite did nothing for these workers. I am proud of the Albanese Labor government's fair work reforms.

Through our closing loophole laws, we have taken steps to ensure gig workers can access minimum standards and stronger protections against unfair treatment. On this side, the basic principle that new technology is not an excuse for a new form of exploitation is something we accept. Australian unions have been saying this for years.

Every worker deserves dignity, respect and a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. The TWU has consistently advocated that workplace laws must respond to insecure work, unpredictable hours and the growing pressures facing workers in a changing, online economy. This is what these reforms are about.

It's what the TWU has fought for, it's what people like my good friends Senators Glenn Sterle and Tony Sheldon in the other place have fought for, and it's what Labor will continue to deliver for working people.