Public Interest Debate

Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields) (17:24:12) — The COVID‑19 pandemic is unprecedented. Certainly in my lifetime, our community has never faced such a public health crisis leading to an equally enormous economic one. Millions have been affected globally and many hundreds of thousands have died.

Fortunately, we have fared much better than the rest the world but, sadly, a number of our citizens have lost their lives also. I offer my sincerest condolences to their families.

In confronting this pandemic we in this Parliament, and in the wider community, owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who have supported our communities at their most vulnerable.

It is impossible to name all the people who have contributed during this crisis—namely, the workers who stack the supermarket shelves; those who distribute meals to the homeless and the needy; those who clean our trains and offices; those who make phone calls to the vulnerable and the lonely; those who have kept our transport system moving; those who have been reporting on the pandemic, keeping the public informed around the clock; the teachers and early childhood educators who care for our kids while essential workers carry out their duties; and those who work in our public health system, placing themselves in direct contact with the virus. The efforts of our doctors, nurses, pathologists, wards people, pharmacists and allied health professionals have been truly heroic and will not be forgotten.

Let us be clear: this motion is nothing more than an attempt to justify the Government's decision to dock the pay of public sector workers. These are the very same workers that have kept the State running during the pandemic. The same public sector workers who this Liberal‑National Government continually mention in its press releases. The same workers the Government uses as background props at its press conferences and, no doubt, the same ones it will use in its public advertising.

The irony, or rather the hypocrisy, of the situation is not lost on our community. The Government's thanks to those workers for keeping the State running through the crisis is to dock their pay. That is just appalling. The Government argues that it will save approximately $3 billion by cutting the pay of the public sector, which will add to the economic recovery of the State.

Think about that argument for a minute: it suggests the public sector does nothing for the economy and adds nothing to our economic recovery. Somehow public sector workers and their families live on a different planet and are a part of a different economic system. It is pitting one section of the workforce against another, bringing the community together during a crisis Liberal‑Nationals Coalition style.

According to the Coalition when a public sector worker spends their wages at the local shops or at their local Bunnings store it does nothing for jobs or the supply chain. As a basic example, public sector families are spending money supporting a local cafe or restaurant—part of an industry that has been the hardest hit during the crisis.

According to the Government's argument to dock public sector pay, there are no jobs or economic activities involved in the farmer who is growing the food, the person who makes the deliveries, the wait staff or those involved in the manufacturing or sale of items in that local cafe or food business.

Liberal Party voodoo economics says that there is no economic stimulus or job creation when a public sector worker spends their wages in our local economy. That is lazy thinking.

I would encourage everyone to socially distance themselves from this sort of baseless economic argument. In fact, people should self-isolate and quarantine from the Government's nonsensical economic ideas before this silly economic virus infects the rest of its policies.

I have a novel idea. If the Government wants to speed up the economic recovery, what about cutting its extravagance before it attacks the wages of workers? What about abandoning the $1 billion Powerhouse folly? What about the reckless and breathtaking sum spent on consultants? What about requiring all chairs of committees in this place to forgo their allowances? What about taking away the outrageous pay increases for secretaries? What about better management of government projects and stopping budget blowouts—WestConnex, $6.8 billion; Metro West, $3 billion; and CBD and South East Light Rail, $1.3 billion and rising.

The Government cannot manage its own money so it is coming after the wages of the workers who help to keep the State running.