13th May 2021, 12:57 PM – Senate Motions - Coal Mining - Workers' rights

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Queensland Senator Murray Watt (Labor), which means it failed.

Motion text

GENERAL BUSINESS NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 1102

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) mining companies contracting out permanent jobs to labour hire has grown dramatically in the past decade,

(ii) most labour hire workers in coal mining are employed as casuals, even though they do the same work as permanents, with full-time hours and rosters set up to a year in advance,

(iii) in the Hunter Valley coalfields, 43% of open cut coal miners are employed on labour hire arrangements,

(iv) most of these labour hire workers are employed casually and receive substantially worse pay and conditions than mineworkers employed by the mine owner or operator,

(v) labour hire workers are typically paid 30-40% less than permanents in the coal industry, and

(vi) analysis by the McKell Institute shows that the lower wages paid to labour hire coal miners in the Hunter Valley costs the region up to $282 million year in economic activity, compared to workers being employed directly in permanent jobs; and

(b) further notes that, on 18 March 2021, One Nation, the National Party and the Liberal Party voted to amend the Fair Work Act, entrenching casualisation for coal mineworkers in the Hunter Valley.