Media Release

KAP Federal Leader and Member for Kennedy Bob Katter says it will fall to the KAP to stand up for Australian workers who are being “sold out hand over fist by our political duocracy” following reports this week of demands to bring in labourers to the country to fast-track construction of multinational mining projects(1) and increasing threats to undermine Australian wages and working conditions(2).

“I would have laughed at you 10 years ago if you had told me that an ALP government would, in one year alone, bring in 125,000 temporary 457 visa workers. But in 2012 that’s what they did. That’s three times the 38,000-a-year being brought in under the LNP government that introduced the scheme in 1996, and a million jobs gone not to Australians, but to foreign fly-ins,” said Mr Katter.

“The unbelievable 10 years ago has becomes the acceptable; the acceptable has become the inevitable;and the inevitable the reality.

“The reality we now face is that LNP will sell out workers faster than the ALP.”
Of equal concern to Australian workers, said Mr Katter, was the threat to wage and working conditions from the other side of the political spectrum.

“Our position is that penalty rates stand, because it’s inconceivable that there should not be fair compensation for people such as nurses or ambos who have no choice but to work outside of normal hours; or some encouragement above and beyond the basic pay rate for those in construction or mining who do a double shift on the weekend because someone didn’t turn up for work,” said Mr Katter.

“As a young man, I had to saddle up to a double shift after weeks of dog-watch in the mines, and it would have been damn unfair to ask me to do that without extra compensation. But it’s an entirely different issue, for example, in a ‘Ma and Pa’ boutique tourist operation in country areas; a different situation entirely from the giant industrial operations owned by foreign corporations.”

Mr Katter said Australian jobs and wages were also at risk from competing against “slave labour wages” with the increasing offshoring of jobs – from manufacturing and food processing workers, to white-collar information and communications technology positions in our banks.

“Our economy relies on an affluent workforce that is willing to spend; and undermining pay and conditions is short-sighted and threatens the business sector just as much as the workforce,” said Mr Katter.

“But those who seek market advantage through slave labour wage levels will never rest – and our political duocracy will only help them.”

1 ‘Call to let Chinese workers build mines’ (AAP, 8 August 2013):
www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/call-to-let-chinese-workers-build-mines/story-e6frfkur-1226693676122
2 National Press Club address (7 August 2013):
www.actu.org.au/Media/Speechesandopinion/GedKearneyaddresstotheNationalPressClub7August2013.aspx