It gives me a great deal of pleasure to rise and speak on the Environment and Planning Committee’s report on the inquiry into employers and contractors who refuse to play their subcontractors for completed works. This was something that certainly sparked my attention, because in my family my brother-in-law runs a business in Sydney putting the glass into high-rise buildings. He has certainly been on the pointy end of chasing contractors and employers for money when it comes to being paid for the work that he has undertaken. I have seen firsthand the trickle-down effect that that has – the terrible effects it has on a family and the stress that he was under when chasing huge amounts of money. He needed to be able to pay his debts, and most importantly he needed to pay his workers.
This inquiry, I think, comes at a really important time, with Victoria undergoing a huge amount of construction as part of our Big Build and other things, but it is actually looking at providing better protection for families and small businesses. This inquiry took a really close look at this particular issue when it comes to Victoria’s construction industry. It has gone ahead and it has made a number of recommendations – in fact it has made 28 – on how the government can better address the issues of underpayment, which is really important, and non-payment of subcontractors for work in the Victorian construction sector. Victoria knows just how important a role the construction industry plays in literally building up our state. Like I said before, whether it is our government’s Big Build projects or new housing builds and developments, living in the west and being a westie, I am able to see firsthand the absolutely ginormous amount of work that is happening in our construction industry in the western suburbs to help her get up on her feet and deal with the enormous amount of growth that we are currently experiencing.
The construction industry, whether it is employers, contractors, subcontractors or the like, has never been more important to building this state. But what we know is just how complex some construction agreements can be, with all kinds of contractors and subcontractors creating this type of pyramid scheme, which is indeed mentioned in the report, and how complicated the scheme can be. The flow-on effects of non-payment or underpayment are absolutely catastrophic when it comes to the family being able to put food on their table, pay their debts, pay their mortgage and other things and, importantly, pay their own workers.
The report makes clear that the risks of underpayment when it comes to subcontractors are significant. We know it is a real risk; it is happening out there and happening right now. It should not be a controversial statement to say that anyone, whether they are a contractor, a subcontractor or an employee, should be paid for their labour as agreed to. This is about people’s livelihoods, remember, it is not just about making huge profits. It is about, at the end of the day, the trickle-down effect of being able to put food on the table. In many cases these subcontractors are small businesses or self-employed individuals. Like I said, my brother-in-law is one of them. Many of these people rely on this type of work to keep the lights on, to pay the bills and feed their families. When you have that significant imbalance between you and the other party that you are relying on for payment for work, we know time and time again – as we have talked about on many bills in this house when trying to rectify a number of issues where there is that significant imbalance – it is a recipe for disaster. That is what this inquiry discovered.
That is why our government did in fact crack down on wage theft last term. It was an absolute pleasure being here in this house watching that policy and legislation unfold and be passed here in this place. The wage theft work that we did last term made illegal the underpayment and non-payment of employees. What this report and this inquiry have said is that we need to apply the same standard of secure pay for contractors and subcontractors in the construction sector. I commend the report to the house.
