❓ Ms Freeman questions Premier Barnett on potential cuts to penalty rates, accusing him of breaking a promise that no one would be worse off under new legislation. The Premier denies current plans but acknowledges an 'issue' of fairness regarding weekend rates.
AnsweredQoN 826Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PENALTY RATES — GOVERNMENT PLANS
826. Ms J.M. FREEMAN to the
Premier:
I have a supplementary question. Is
the Premier's comment in The West
Australian that no-one would be worse off under this legislation a broken
promise? Will the Premier confirm whether he is thinking about cutting state
award penalty rates that establish sustainable wages instead of encouraging
enterprise bargaining agreements? Is this also a broken promise?
826. Ms J.M. FREEMAN to the
Premier:
I have a supplementary question. Is
the Premier's comment in The West
Australian that no-one would be worse off under this legislation a broken
promise? Will the Premier confirm whether he is thinking about cutting state
award penalty rates that establish sustainable wages instead of encouraging
enterprise bargaining agreements? Is this also a broken promise?
AnswerView source ↗
I said that the government does not have any plans to do that—and
we do not. But I think that there is an issue out there. There is an issue of
equity and fairness for people with careers in industries like retail, who work
during the week for a fairly modest hourly rate, and find that at the weekend
part-timers, second-jobbers and students do exactly the same work for an hourly
rate way above their own.
Ms
J.M. Freeman : So it is a broken promise. You said you would not —
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Clearly, the member does not grasp the answer.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mirrabooka, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
If changes were made affecting, say retail, one of the principles would be to
make sure that people are not worse off. The only people who might be worse off
would be students working on a Saturday night—they might not get $50 an
hour; they might get $45 an hour.
we do not. But I think that there is an issue out there. There is an issue of
equity and fairness for people with careers in industries like retail, who work
during the week for a fairly modest hourly rate, and find that at the weekend
part-timers, second-jobbers and students do exactly the same work for an hourly
rate way above their own.
Ms
J.M. Freeman : So it is a broken promise. You said you would not —
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Clearly, the member does not grasp the answer.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mirrabooka, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
If changes were made affecting, say retail, one of the principles would be to
make sure that people are not worse off. The only people who might be worse off
would be students working on a Saturday night—they might not get $50 an
hour; they might get $45 an hour.
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