STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms MASCARENHAS (Swan) (13:53): What makes Australia Australia? One of the things is that waiters and waitresses don't have to live off tips, and that's the way that it should be for hospo workers. But has this been the case for food delivery drivers and Uber drivers?

It hasn't. But you know what? The Labor Party changed that this week.

It's fundamentally about whether these drivers had access to fair pay, whether they had access to minimum wage and whether they had access to basic protections or even accident insurance. We have done this. The question that I have for my caucus is: should gig workers have basic protections?

Absolutely. Should gig workers have a proper wage? Absolutely.

Should gig workers have access to accident insurance policies? Absolutely. Guess what?

Now these drivers will have a fair wage, a minimum of $31 an hour. This is where I'll say, 'Did those opposite support these changes?' They did not. For basic protections for drivers, they said no.

For a fair wage, they said no. To accident insurance, they said no. It's absolutely outrageous!

The Labor Party is the party for workers. We will always back workers. Gig workers, all workers—we are the party for workers.

We love workers.