Alice Jordan-Baird
Gorton · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“This includes incentives like the Commonwealth Prac Payment, which means students on their mandatory nursing and midwifery placements will be paid for their work, making life easier for our nursing and midwifery students.”
“We took health care to the election, and right across the board we're legislating change. We've capped the cost of PBS-listed medicines at just $25, the lowest it's been since 2004—when I was in primary school—which has seen a saving of more than $14 million in my electorate of Gorton.”
“With competing cost-of-living pressures, these families shouldn't be worrying about the cost of seeing a doctor as well. These families deserve regular access to affordable GP appointments, and that's why this bill matters.”
“Our green and gold Medicare card means opportunity. It means receiving high-quality health care, regardless of your bank balance. I'm so proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which is committed to strengthening Medicare for generations to come, and this bill, the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measur…”
“It means that, in Melbourne's western suburbs, people in our community have access to free walk-in care when they need it. With this budget, we're making urgent care clinics like the ones in Melton and Sunshine permanent. Urgent care clinics play a really important role in taking the pressure off our emergency departments.”
“Our introduction of Medicare bulk-billing clinics is really making a huge difference in our communities across the country. I'm really proud to report that, in my community, there are now 24 Medicare bulk-billing practices—up from 13 before our bulk-billing changes were introduced.”
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“The fact is that they have no idea what a long-term plan to reduce energy costs for Australians actually looks like. Sustainability doesn't mean just environmentally friendly; it also means economically viable. When we say we are building a sustainable energy system, we mean that we are building an energy system that is environmentally friendly and economically viable—two things the coalition's policy is not. On this side of the House, we understand the bigger picture when it comes to net zero and the clean energy transition. We understand that reducing the cost of living and making the transition to clean energy are not two different propositions. We have taken and continue to take significant steps to reduce household costs. We're taking strong action to provide energy bill relief to Australian households and businesses.”
“If those opposite truly think that climate change won't affect working people, they are delusional. It's already increasing the severity and regularity of extreme weather events, which makes work more dangerous and more difficult. It makes it more difficult for the person working in train-track maintenance, sweltering in a heatwave. It makes it more difficult for the nurse that's treating more and more respiratory conditions which are related to poor air quality. It makes it more difficult for the small-business owner seeing ingredient prices rise because crops have been decimated by flooding. They claim to care about costs. During their decade in government, they had more than 20 different energy policies. At the last election, they proposed to waste billions of taxpayer dollars on a nuclear pipedream.”
“So I'm really disappointed that those opposite have reacted in this way and that they haven't been able to put political pointscoring aside to recognise this rare opportunity for Australia to write the rules of energy transition. They're so focused on trying to tear this country down instead of building it up. The constituents of my electorate are profoundly hardworking. They often work long hours while juggling commitments to family and community. Every day, they go to work in hospitals, schools, factories, public transport networks and shops. For those opposite to speak with such contempt about this government's action on climate change is an affront to my community because my electorate knows that, if we don't act on climate change, we all suffer.”
“In fact, the only people who think global energy decisions have nothing to do with Australian bills are those opposite. They don't realise that the energy situation we're in is a global issue. I applaud the Minister for Climate Change and Energy for going above and beyond in his advocacy for Australia's interests in energy and climate. We on this side of the House have always supported advocacy for Australia's best interests on the world stage. When we were in opposition, our party didn't just sit there grandstanding. We actually celebrated when the government was able to achieve real outcomes for Australia, which it did in some aspects of trade and diplomacy.”
“We knew it when they were responsible for a three per cent reduction in Australia's emissions over nine years of government. We knew it when they said they'd solved the clean energy transition and then proposed to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on bringing nuclear energy to Australia. We know that they're not interested in doing what it takes to secure Australia's future. Otherwise, they wouldn't be objecting to Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy doing his job of not only representing Australia's interest in energy and climate at the highest level but grasping a rare opportunity to lead the discussion and help write the rules at COP31. This side of the House understands that reducing energy prices at home and tackling climate change is not something Australia can do on its own.”
“I'm really excited to speak on today's MPI. What interesting rhetoric we've heard in this chamber today! If the opposition thinks that leading the global transition to clean energy means that the Minister for Climate Change and Energy is only working part-time in his role, it clearly has no concept of what preparing Australia for the future and securing lower energy prices for the long term actually entails. We know that the coalition is not interested in preparing Australia for the future. They made that abundantly clear when they dumped net zero, against every piece of expert advice and even against consistent findings that included the cost of transmission and storage renewables being the cheapest form of new energy generation.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering stronger environmental laws that benefit our economy and protect Australia's unique natural environment? What have been the obstacles to reform?”
“These might be young people starting their apprenticeships, or they could be people who finished their bachelor or masters degrees a long time ago but who still have a debt that lingers. It will cut more than $500 million from VET student loans and Australian apprenticeship support loan balances, giving VET students a leg-up when they enter the workforce. After the 20 per cent reduction is applied, people will receive a text or email letting them know this has happened—no applications, no forms, just real cost-of-living relief. This is about intergenerational fairness, making sure every generation can experience the benefits of an affordable education. At the end of the day, everyone deserves a good-quality education, no matter where they live.”
“Whether it's a buzz or beep, over the next two weeks more than three million Aussies will be getting a notification to say their student debt has been cut by 20 per cent. Wiping 20 per cent off every student's debt was the first piece of legislation this Labor government introduced into parliament this year, and in the next few weeks millions of Australians will see that reduction when they log into their myGov. This is about lifting the burden for Australians with student debt, including HECS debt, VET student loans, Australian apprenticeship support loans, student start-up loans and other student loans. This will help people in my own family and more than 26,000 people in my electorate of Gorton who have student debt.”
“They opposed our fee-free TAFE policy and voted against it in this place, telling Australians that, if they didn't pay for their education, they wouldn't value it. The coalition has shown a rare display of sense by getting out of the way of this cost-of-living measure, but make no mistake—”
“They're community spots. They're where people catch up, unwind and feel connected. This measure helps keep them strong, and, because of that, I couldn't be prouder to support this bill. In a rare show of good sense, the coalition has decided not to stand in the way of this cost-of-living measure. It's reassuring to know that, for all their faults, they enjoy a beer like the rest of us. I wish I could say the same had happened with other cost-of-living measures we've introduced. Last term, they voted against our tax cuts for every taxpayer. They voted against us when we established the energy bill relief scheme. They went to the election promising to scrap our 20 per cent reduction on student debt.”
“We've got so many loved pubs across Melbourne's west, from the beautiful Sugar Gum Hotel, in Hillside, to the Taylors Lakes Hotel; the Green Gully Soccer Club, another club whose food is well loved by the residents of Gorton; and the Keilor Hotel, which is a very special place close to me because it's where I met my husband, Chris. Just across from my office in Caroline Springs is Desir. Brenton, Michelle and Lorenzo have put their hearts into it. They're creating something really special in Gorton. This is a local business at its best. I know they'd be thrilled to see a government standing up for pubs and brewers, fighting to ease the cost-of-living pressures and working to bring down the cost of a pint in your hand so they don't have to worry about passing on the rising costs to customers. These venues are more than pubs in Gorton.”
“From the very first day I was elected, I promised this community I would fight for them, that I would stand up for affordability in our community, that I would fight for fairness and that I would use every tool in my tool belt to ease these pressures and make life a little bit easier for the people of the western suburbs of Melbourne. This change will help ease costs for every local venue in the seat of Gorton. It will also help keep a pint more affordable for everyday Australians. This matters especially in Melbourne's west, where the pub culture is so strong.”
“When it comes to delivering real cost-of-living relief, the Albanese Labor government is truly leaving no stone unturned. That includes making sure that going down to the pub for a beer—something that makes so many Australians feel a whole lot lighter—doesn't make the wallet feel lighter as well. The best local stories and conversations come over a cold beer at the local pub, not in a meeting room and not at the office. What I hear loud and clear is that the cost of living has been weighing heavily on families, workers and small businesses. Prices keep rising, and people are struggling to get by. This includes paying the cost of a refreshing beer.”
“We've delivered targeted cost-of-living relief for students, locking in 100,000 free TAFE places each year from 2027; legislating a 20 per cent cut to student debt—I'm proud to say three million students will see their HECS balances cut over the next two weeks; and raising the minimum repayment thresholds so that repayments are lower and kick in only when you earn more. We're putting more medicines on the PBS and capping the cost of a prescription on the PBS to no more than $25. We've invested $7.9 billion to expand the eligibility for the MBS bulk-billing incentives and to establish the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program so that every electorate in the country will have GP practices that bulk-bill every patient. Australians will only need their Medicare card, not their credit card, to receive the health care they need.”
“Freezing the indexation on the draught beer excise is real cost-of-living relief that recognises the fundamental importance of pubs and breweries to Australians. It's another piece in the broader set of policies we've introduced to tackle the cost of living and ensure that the financial pressures on Aussies decrease in all areas of their lives, from sitting down to pay the energy bill to heading down to the local pub for a drink. Reducing the cost of living has been our government's mission in this parliament, and I'm proud to say that we've delivered. We've provided three rounds of energy bill relief to homes and small businesses to take the sting out of bills, as well as up to $1.8 billion to extend energy bill relief for another six months until the end of 2025, bringing the total Energy Bill Relief Fund commitment to $6.8 billion.”
“But I've also watched young people grow and transform through their first hospitality job like mine. When I say this policy matters, I say it from experience. I've lived it, I've supported it and I've seen it change lives. Every cent these businesses save from the freeze on tax indexation is an investment in workers, in jobs, in wages and in valuable experience. This bill builds on the broader tax relief announced earlier this year for Australia's brewers, distillers and winemakers. These industries aren't just part of our culture; they drive jobs, innovation and exports. Right now eligible producers can receive up to $350,000 in tax remission. This government will lift this remission to $400,000 from 1 July 2026. Our goal is simple. We want to reduce pressure on producers, boost local manufacturing and strengthen regional economies.”
“Seventy-five per cent of those venues are small family-run businesses that employ local people and support community events, sporting clubs and local charities. This is an industry that supports more than 160,000 jobs and contributes over $17 billion to the national economy. I am confident these measures will give these establishments the breathing room to keep business strong and support the communities that rely on them. I understand this bill personally because I have seen it firsthand. As a young adult, I worked in hospitality. I know how dedicated small-business owners in hospitality are. They don't just run businesses; they nurture people, invest in local talent, provide local employment and give back to the community with passion. I've met business owners who stay awake at night worrying if they can keep staff on.”
“In other words, we're having an intermission for automatic indexation for two whole years so that the schedule increases in August 2025, February 2026, August 2026 and February 2027 won't happen. The rates will stay the same through the whole period, and, when indexation resumes in August 2027, the beer tax won't jump to where it would have been if the automatic indexation had continued. It starts from the rate we're on right now. That means the beer tax will be below what it would've been for every year in the future, which will make a difference to the price of beer in the long term. There are around 10,000 hospitality venues across Australia that will directly benefit from this bill, including pubs, bars, taverns and clubs.”
“They are the day-to-day realities for thousands of family-run venues across Australia. We heard them, we listened, and we acted. Pubs, clubs and brewers asked for relief, and this bill delivers exactly that. It delivers on the government's commitment in the 2025-26 budget to freeze the indexation on draught beer excise for two years. Indexation is applied to draught beer excise and customs duty twice a year in February and August under arrangements that have been in place for decades. In other words, the tax on beer goes up every six months because of automatic indexation. Unfortunately, our breweries have faced 84 tax increases in the last 40 years, so this bill is a crucial step in the right direction and is a much needed break for industry. The legislation before us today will freeze indexation from August 2025.”
“Cost-of-living pressures cannot be allowed to compromise Australians' ability to stay connected. We also can't allow it to jeopardise the future of the hospitality industry in Australia. Our hospitality sector, especially in Victoria, has been through a lot. Pubs, clubs and venues faced huge challenges during the pandemic. Costs went up, supply chains were disrupted, and running a business became much harder. Right now, beer tax increases hit small businesses hard, especially in years of high inflation. For a small pub or club, another jump in excise can make the difference between hiring another worker and cutting back hours. It can also mean the difference between keeping the price of a pint stable and having to raise it again for customers already feeling the pinch. These aren't just numbers on a page.”
“The Albanese Labor government is determined in its goal to do just this, to make sure that Australians and their businesses get real relief for financial pressures. On this side of the House, we know that cost of living affects all areas of life. Yes, it's about the number at the bottom of your energy bill, how much it costs to see a doctor when you're sick and how much student debt you still have to pay, which is why our government is acting to clamp down on every single one of these costs. But it's also about how much it costs to do the things we enjoy and the things that keep us together. Popping down to the pub for a beer and a meal with colleagues, friends and family is how we stay connected. We understand how important it is to protect these moments.”
“I'm proud to stand in this House and support a bill that delivers real cost-of-living relief, strengthens a key Australian industry and gives local pubs and the people who support them a fair go. This bill is a practical measure. It freezes the draught beer excise for local pubs and gathering spaces. In doing so, it reduces the cost of beer for consumers and businesses alike. Whether your preferred measure is a schooner or a pint, this side of the House is keeping beer affordable. The amendments in this bill are simple, targeted and fair. They support an industry that matters to communities, families and workers right across the nation and cut cost-of-living pressures, delivering real relief to Australians and their businesses.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the associated bill. It's an absolute honour to follow my friend the member for McNamara, who I know is a huge advocate for publicans and small businesses in his electorate and, like me, enjoys a pint every once in awhile as well. Pubs, clubs and breweries are part of our social fabric and our Australian identity. They bring people together, they keep communities thriving and they support jobs right across the country. Australia has a long history of backing local brewers and the hospitality workers who keep our pubs running. In 2025 the Albanese Labor government is stepping up again, because that's what good governments do: they back local industry, they reduce pressure on household budgets and they keep our communities connected and strong.”
“Each of the women were keen to share their current and past projects, ranging from wood-turned bowls, hardwood pens, upcycled items rescued from local hard-rubbish collections, restored furniture and so much more. One of the women told me how much this community has supported her mental health since the passing of her husband. With guidance from the shed, she was able to create a wooden urn for her husband. This meant so much to her family and helped her process her grief in a different way. Westvale's model shows how community sheds can evolve, preserving their core mission of supporting men's wellbeing while also extending genuine opportunity and belonging to women. This inclusive, grassroots leadership strengthens our community in real, practical ways and it's something worth celebrating and supporting. Well done, Westvale Men's Shed.”
“Today I would also like to recognise the Westvale Men's Shed in Kings Park for its inspiring commitment to community inclusion not just for men but for women too. While the shed offers traditional social and woodworking sessions for men, every Tuesday they run a women's shed woodworking program free of charge. Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to one of their sessions. This isn't a typical class. It's a skills exchange where women learn to use tools, develop skills, work on DIY projects and build confidence alongside experienced volunteers. Through this program, the shed creates a welcoming, non-threatening space for women to connect, create and grow.”
“But, more importantly, Specialist Hoops has matured into a community, a place where participants can develop skills but also friendships, self-confidence and a strong sense of belonging. Emily's vision doesn't stop at inclusion for its own sake. She's created pathways for higher performance too, with some Specialist Hoops players now training weekly for state level tryouts and others now in mainstream basketball teams. What Emily has built is a powerful example of grassroots leadership, identifying a need, building a solution and growing something that matters deeply. Her work ensures that no-one is left behind not just in sport but in community. I congratulate Emily Attard, her team, her volunteers and the Specialist Hoops community for eight years of dedication, growth and genuine inclusion.”
“I rise today to honour Emily Attard, a Caroline Springs local and the founder and managing director of Specialist Hoops, a truly transformative basketball program operating across several locations in Melbourne's western suburbs. What began in 2017, when Emily was only 16 years old, has grown eight years later into a vibrant community that bridges the gap in inclusion for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. As a young referee, Emily witnessed firsthand the barriers faced by children with disability—unable to play a full game due to a lack of inclusive opportunities and facing pushback on playing while wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Motivated by what she witnessed and a game she loved, she founded Specialist Hoops to create a safe space not just for children but for adults, too, to play sport, to belong and to grow.”
“I'm so proud to represent one of the most multicultural communities in the country, and every day that I represent my electorate I'm reminded of the value that migrants add to our community, whether it be in skills, in the insights they bring, in the ways in which they lift each other up and model close-knit, supportive and welcoming community or in the culture they share—food, language, celebrations and knowledge. This amendment recognises the value of migrants. It recognises that they deserve to feel safe and secure as a matter of human dignity but also as people who add immense value to our communities, who have an important role to play in our future and who are welcome in our country. I commend this bill to the House.”
“Last week, Minister Thistlethwaite and I held a migration forum. It was held in my office and was attended by leaders of multicultural communities in my electorate. The forum was productive and insightful. It was an opportunity to ask questions and gain insights on parts of our migration system that were less well known. It was also a chance to share information about how the system works in practice and identify opportunities for greater cultural sensitivity and understanding.”
“We knew it during the election campaign when they proposed solving the transition to clean energy with billion-dollar nuclear fantasies. We knew it when they proposed solving the housing crisis by reducing the number of international students in higher education and VET. We knew it all the 10 years they were in government, during which they reduced emissions by a meagre three per cent, ignored our ageing population and deemed it unnecessary to appoint a housing minister. We know it now, as they ditch net zero and let migrants take the blame for the consequences of their neglect. Once again I'm proud to be on this side of the House, where we tackle the issues head on and where we treat migrants with the dignity, care and respect they deserve and actually listen to them and their experiences as members of our Australian community.”
“The comments made by those opposite about migrant communities during their last term of government don't bear repeating. You would think that, after their decisive losses in 2022 and, again, this year, they'd have realised that vilifying migrant communities and dog whistling to the far right doesn't play with Australians. But, no, they've persisted with this divisive rhetoric. With racist and offensive remarks, they've validated and legitimised the blaming of migrants for social issues instead of working with the government collaboratively to address the real causes of these problems—problems we're only dealing with today after 10 years of neglect under their leadership. Blaming migrants is what a party does when they don't have real solutions to the issues we face as a nation. We know the coalition doesn't have real solutions.”
“Time and time again, those opposite have failed in their responsibility to protect temporary migrant workers from exploitation. Not only did they preside over worsening conditions for temporary migrant workers in this country, failing to actually implement the recommendations of the Migrant Workers' Taskforce they created, which responded to the revelation that 7-Eleven's mistreatment of some migrant workers essentially amounted to slavery; but they also actively prioritised temporary visas over permanent visas, changed visa rules to restrict workers rights and removed pathways to residency, actively degrading workers protections and leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. At every opportunity to demonstrate support for migrants, at every opportunity to show that they know the value of migration to our country, they've done the opposite.”
“In 2022, Jobs and Skills Australia reported that 66 per cent of employers experienced difficulty filling hospitality roles, and an article by the ABC reported that businesses, particularly in rural and regional areas, are having to decrease operating hours to cope with persistent skills shortages. Of course, shortages like these have more than one cause and require multifaceted approaches, but temporary migrant workers are an essential part of the picture to plug these gaps, reduce the pressure on these industries and keep small businesses afloat, ensuring that our economy keeps moving forward and that we maintain and grow the industries that are critical to our future. As we discuss what migrant workers have to endure in our country, I'm proud again to be sitting on this side of the House and not that side of the House.”
“By making sure that migrant workers are paid properly for their work across the board, employers don't have this incentive to reduce wages, protecting the wages of all Australians. It's about making Australia a place where people from other countries want to work. For our economy and our future, Australians need migrant workers. According to the peak body for the building and construction industry, every building and construction trade is currently deemed to be in shortage. To address the current housing crisis and ensure that we have the housing we need for the future, we need skilled labour from overseas, particularly in rural and regional areas. Shortages of skilled workers like cooks and chefs are also presenting an ongoing challenge.”
“At its core, making sure that temporary migrants are protected from exploitation is a matter of fairness and human dignity, because everybody should be paid properly for the work they do, and nobody should have to endure mistreatment, coercion or exploitation. It's also about making sure that wages stay strong for all Australians. Wage theft is fundamentally anticompetitive—a race to the bottom. When migrant workers are underpaid, it drives wages and conditions down for everyone. It erodes institutions that make Australia a good place to live and work, like our world-leading minimum wage, and it harms employers doing the right thing. It means that employers are faced with a difficult choice—whether to pay their workers the lawful amount and sacrifice market share or join the race to the bottom.”
“She had been an employee at her place of work, a small business, for several years already, but her visa application had been refused twice because her employer had failed to pay her at the same rate an Australian worker would be paid for the same work and had abrogated their sponsorship obligations to other workers. This constituent was distressed at being left with no choice but to leave the country despite having done nothing but work hard and support this small business during her time in Australia. These are the challenges faced by temporary workers of our country—temporary workers who have been left at the mercy of their employers, who've had little control over their lives and who've had no choice but to bear the consequences of their employer's indiscretions.”
“In 2024, we brought in the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act, which introduced three new work related offences addressing coercive practices used by employers to exploit migrant workers. In March this year, we launched a $13.25 million grant program to educate temporary visa holders and their employers about our reforms. This piece builds on the systemic changes we've already made in this space, making sure that migrant workers have the right information to make informed choices about their sponsors and can find a new sponsoring employer more easily, reducing their susceptibility to exploitation. This issue is not so far from my electorate of Gorton. Not long ago, a constituent of my electorate came into my office distressed at the refusal of her application for an Employer Nomination Scheme visa.”
“Because of these measures, dodgy employers can now get up to two years of jail time for this conduct. We also introduced prohibition notices, increased penalties and new compliance tools to deter and punish this conduct by employers, and we repealed section 235 of the Migration Act which made it harder for temporary workers to report exploitation. To ensure these laws have real power, we committed $50 million to the Australian Border Force for enforcement and to promote compliance with these regulations, and we carried out a month-long blitz, inspecting around 300 businesses to check compliance. That was on top of the 140 businesses we sanctioned for bad conduct in 2022.”
“Migrant workers put up with these conditions because they are afraid of jeopardising their visas, because they haven't been told what their rights are, because they don't know what to do when they are underpaid, because they don't know how to check if their employer is legitimate and, sometimes, because they are being threatened by employers. It isn't fair and it isn't right, and that's why our government won't let it stand. When we came to government we took decisive action to start eradicating this exploitation. In 2023, we introduced a package of measures targeting employers seeking to exploit migrant workers and ensuring workers could speak up without fear of reprisal. These measures made it a criminal offence to use a person's visa conditions or status to exploit them in the workplace.”
“In 2016, the ABC reported that 7-Eleven workers were being paid as little as 47c an hour. They were made to work more than twice the number of hours permitted by their visa conditions, and they were physical intimidated when seeking repayment. Since then, the exploitation of migrant workers hasn't stopped. In December last year, the Fair Work Ombudsman found that workers at a sushi franchise had been underpaid more than $650,000. The franchise was ordered to pay more than $15 million—the highest penalty ever secured by the Fair Work Ombudsman in a single legal action. Most of the workers who were underpaid were working holiday-makers and skilled visa holders, and many of them were young people aged under 25.”
“With this register, it will be easier for migrant workers to check whether a sponsoring employer is legitimate and to find a new sponsor when exploring alternative employment opportunities, giving them the resources they need to be better informed about potential employers as well as greater mobility should they need to find a new employer. It's a simple reform that will make a big difference to the power imbalance between migrant workers and their employers. Too many temporary migrant workers who provide much-needed skills and labour to Australian businesses find themselves underpaid and subjected to poor conditions. In 2023, the Grattan Institute reported that one in six migrant workers were paid less than the national minimum wage and many endure unsafe working conditions and harassment.”
“It delivers on a commitment we made in the Migration strategy: getting migration working for the nation , from 2023, to enhance protections and oversight for these workers. The bill will establish a public register of approved work sponsors, which will be publicly available on the Department of Home Affairs website. The register will include the name and type of approved sponsor, the sponsor's ABN, the postcode associated with the approved sponsor's ABN and the number of sponsored workers and their occupations. The inclusion of the employer's postcode in particular will enable migrant workers considering changing sponsors to identify employers nearby, ensuring that the register is fit for use.”
“I'm a proud member of the Transport Workers' Union and I'm thrilled to say that, after years of campaigning, the TWU, supported by legislation passed by our government last term, has struck a deal with Uber Eats and DoorDash. These companies will provide workers with minimum pay rates, injury insurance and protection against unfair dismissal by algorithms. Migrants make a huge contribution to the gig economy. This work supports them while they study and train and allows them to work and make a living while adjusting to a new home. They deserve to be properly protected in this work, and our government is determined to support them in this. The amendment bill before us now is another piece in this broader project to support migrant workers.”
“From the Sydney Opera House to the West Gate Bridge, the very bridge that connects my community in Melbourne's western suburbs to the city, it's migrants that built the Australia we all enjoy today. The contributions migrants have made to this country have often come with great sacrifice. For too long, migrating to Australia to work has meant low wages, few protections and an uncertain future. In a country where, apart from our First Nations brothers and sisters, we all have migrant ancestry, where even today almost half of us have a parent born overseas, the fact that migrant workers have not been adequately protected and have been subjected to exploitation, coercion and wage theft is shameful. Our government does not tolerate the exploitation of migrant workers.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025, put forward by the Minister for Home Affairs, and I commend him for doing so. I'm not sure about the member for New England's frankly confusing and somewhat offensive comments before me. He, like his party, wants to continue creating friction and heat in multicultural communities across our nation. But I am honoured to follow my friend the amazing member for Barton and commend her for her dedication to protecting the rights of migrants through her work as an employment lawyer and every day in her role in this parliament. At its core, this amendment bill is about the value that migrants bring to our nation—a nation shaped by generations of migrants who came to Australia in search of opportunity and a better future.”
“These occupations are some of the lowest paid in our workforce, but without them everything would grind to a halt. They deserve the dignity of savings for when they retire, just like any other worker. Labor is the party of super. It was Prime Minister Keating who created the compulsory superannuation system, ensuring every Australian has savings when they retire, and it is clear from a decade under the coalition that only Labor will protect super. I'm really proud to be part of a government that is building on Keating's legacy, defending the dignity of low-income workers and working towards a more equitable system.”
“This reform will mean 1.3 million more Australians—around 55 per cent of whom will be women—will have a more secure retirement, reducing financial inequity between men and women and ensuring that women have financial security and autonomy in their retirement. I want to talk about how these changes will affect those in my electorate of Gorton. At the most recent count, nearly 15 per cent of people in Gorton worked as clerical and administrative workers, over 10 per cent as community and personal service workers, and nine per cent as sales workers. These are people I see in my office on their one afternoon off a month. These are people who spend their weekends at community events, even though they often work long hours in demanding conditions.”
“The LISTO makes a contribution into a person's super, in addition to their employer's contribution, if they meet the requirements. Depending on their circumstances, the LISTO could see an extra $15,000 added to an individual's retirement savings. This amount will make a huge difference to these individuals' lives, giving them the security and peace of mind that their retirement is taken care of. This reform isn't just about economic justice. It's also about gender equity. Sixty per cent of low-income workers are women, and workers in industries dominated by women are still paid less than in those dominated by men. For these reasons, women end up with much less super than their male counterparts.”
“By raising the eligibility threshold from earning $37,000 per year to earning $45,000 per year, more individuals will also be able to access the offset—more than 2,000 people in my electorate of Gorton. I've worked in takeaway food service. I've been underpaid. I've been treated poorly by customers, and my contribution has been undervalued. I know that working in retail and hospitality can be a hard slog. It takes a toll on your physical and mental health. You work long hours on your feet with few breaks. More often than not, your pay doesn't reflect your skills, your experience or the challenges of your work. It's not right that people working in these jobs are held back in their retirement. The low-income tax offset is a tangible step towards rectifying this injustice.”