SCOTT MORRISON’S $270 CHRISTMAS DAY PAY CUT

ANTHONY ALBANESE MP
LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY
MEMBER FOR GRAYNDLER

TONY BURKE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MANAGER OF OPPOSITION BUSINESS
MEMBER FOR WATSON

Scott Morrison wants this Christmas Day to be the last that workers are guaranteed penalty rates and pay loadings.

Under Mr Morrison’s nasty industrial relations changes a typical aged care employee could be hit with a $270 Christmas Day pay cut.

Aged care facilities can’t just close down for a day. Carers can’t stop caring because it’s a public holiday.

These workers – like all workers – deserve extra compensation if they’re required to work on Christmas Day.

But under Mr Morrison’s scheme to ditch the Better Off Overall Test a part-time level 3 aged care worker could see their hourly Christmas Day rate slashed from $57.05 this year to $22.82 next year, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman’s pay calculator.

So instead of earning $456 for working a 9am to 5pm shift they would earn just $182.

These sorts of pay cuts could occur across the entire Australian economy. No private sector worker would be safe from Mr Morrison’s pay cut.

This pay cut is Mr Morrison’s Christmas present to the workers who got us through the pandemic.

The cleaners, the retail workers, the truck drivers, the childcare workers and the aged care staff – they put themselves at risk to get Australia through. But they can all lose take home pay under Mr Morrison’s scheme.

If you abolish something called the Better Off Overall Test, guess what will happen - workers will be worse off.

Mr Morrison’s earlier penalty rate cuts for retail, fast food, pharmacy and hospitality workers failed to deliver a single extra job. Even business groups now admit that. But now they want us to believe that cutting more penalty rates, cutting overtime, cutting shift loading and cutting allowances will create jobs?

Pay cuts are bad for workers and bad for the economy. For Australia to recover from the recession we need people with the money and confidence to spend.

The government says the economy is doing well enough that businesses no longer need JobKeeper. But then they say the economy is doing so badly they need to cut the pay of workers. They can't have it both ways.

The Liberals can't help themselves. They are reverting to type, just like they did with Work Choices - because cutting pay and conditions is something they truly believe in. It’s in their DNA.

THURSDAY, 24 DECEMBER 2020