Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields) (23:32): — The Member for Cessnock is a hard act to follow. I make a contribution to debate on the Workers Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2021.

I reaffirm Labor's opposition to this bill. The bill should have been called the "Workers Compensation Legislation Attack Bill" because that is exactly what it is. It is an attack on workers' conditions and rights.

The bill does not appreciate the effort of frontline workers throughout the pandemic. It does not recognise the risks that frontline workers put themselves and their families through to keep us all safe.

It blatantly betrays the trust of frontline workers who answered the call when asked, and did not complain about the long hours and difficult shifts.

This bill is about trust, which is something you can never give to a Liberal Government.

I did not come to this Parliament to make life harder for sick and injured workers.

This bill is just blatantly unfair but we know that this Liberal Government has form when it comes to attacking workers and making their lives more difficult by docking their pay and ripping off injured workers while all the time handing out million‑dollar executive bonuses for their hand-picked mates at icare.

The repeal of section 19B of the Workers Compensation Act is typical of this ungrateful and uncaring Liberal Government. Led by a man who spoke so highly of the executive managers of his icare "baby" when he was Treasurer, this is the same mob who ripped off 52,000 injured workers to the tune of $80 million. I mean, what did we expect? It is just so typical.

The Liberal Government never misses an opportunity to make life harder for working people. During the height of the pandemic many people in my local community and other parts of south-western and western Sydney made up the bulk of essential workers, both in the frontline public services and in the private sector—whether it was running the vaccination centres, caring for the sick in our hospitals, transporting the injured and immobile, delivering the food, stocking the supermarket shelves and many other essential services—and in so doing, many had to juggle the extra challenges of having kids at home and knowing the increased risk of bringing the virus back home.

They answered the call and they did their bit to keep the rest of Greater Sydney open and to keep our economy running—community service at its best, despite the heightened risk.

How do we think this Liberal Government showed its appreciation for our essential workers? They locked us up unfairly. They restricted our movements unnecessarily and they targeted us based on where we lived and how we lived unjustifiably without evidence and without care.

Recent evidence from the Chief Health Officer proves that the lockdown policy was discriminatory and relegated south-western and western Sydney communities to the bottom of the pile.

This Liberal Government has form when it comes to attacking workers and finding new ways to make their life difficult. That is why this amending bill, by repealing section 19B of the Act, is neither a surprise nor would it shock any worker who has been on the sharp end of a Liberal Government spear. It is in the Government's DNA to take every opportunity, regardless of the conditions, to make life harder for working people.

It is in Labor's DNA to stand up for working people to ensure fairness every time in every workplace and under every condition. Standing up for working people to ensure they are treated with fairness and respect is what Labor does; it is why we exist.

This amending bill puts the entire onus of proof on workers. If the Liberals had actually given some thought to this principle, they would have realised how unfair and difficult it is to prove it. But then again, perhaps they actually did give some thought to this, knowing that it was too difficult for a worker to prove that they did contract the virus at work.

Either way, this Liberal Government will deny the support that workers need at a time when they need it most—and that is all so typical.

You never trust a Liberal Government at the best of times, but this bill just shows that you cannot trust them at any time. Furthermore, this bill makes the implicit assumption that somehow workers in whatever field they work in—whether in the private or the public sector—will deliberately rip off the system. How is that for respect for the people in our community?

I thought I misheard the argument from the Minister and from other members that the reason for the repeal of section 19B was based on financial grounds. I mean, really?

The Government is using Liberal Party financial figures to justify an argument. This is the same mob who racked up $104 billion in public debt and further to that, this is the Liberal Party that has been cooking the books for years through their accounting tricks and magical pudding numbers through the Transport Asset Holding Entity [TAHE].

Billions of dollars have been defined as investment, which it is not, through a created commercial entity that is supposed to make a profit, which does not exist, and masterminded by the then Treasurer, who is now the Premier—a snake oil salesman who wants to tax your family home but says it is good for you.

He is now spearheading the same old Liberal Government making life more difficult for working families.

The maths was so clearly elucidated by my good friend the Member for Cessnock.

We cannot trust this Liberal Government when it comes to looking after the community's wellbeing and any worker's welfare. We just cannot, and the list of evidence is long and continues to grow.

To every worker in every industry, from the young to the experienced, this Liberal Government is never on your side. I oppose the bill.