Parliament

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the New South Wales (NSW) Government has released a plan to transition to renewable energy, including through the creation of renewable energy zones, support for solar and wind power projects and the development of new transmission capacity,

(ii) the NSW Government has a goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, and

Exclude universities from the legislation

I move:

(1) Clause 7, page 9 (lines 6 and 7), omit paragraph (7) (e).

(2) Clause 7, page 9 (after line 12), after paragraph (h), insert:

(ha) a university established by, or under, a law of a State or a Territory; or

(3) Clause 10, page 11 (line 28), omit "paragraph 7(d), (e) or (f)", substitute "paragraph 7(d) or (f)".

I would like to speak tonight about the recent tragic deaths and serious injuries of food delivery workers in Sydney and across the country. We have seen a tragedy unfolding on our streets over the last few months. At least five delivery riders have been killed on the roads since the end of September. Four of those deaths were in Sydney.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Leader of the Government in the Senate representing the Prime Minister (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator Faruqi today relating to climate change.

I rise to speak to the Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020. The Greens will be opposing this ill-thought-out overreach by the government, which comes before us after a rushed and insufficient consultation process. Senator Rice's contribution and dissenting report to the limited inquiry into this legislation reflect the broader terminal issues with this legislation. I want to highlight the impact it will have on the work of our universities.

The Greens have a very strong position that the Senate should insist on its amendments to this Economic Recovery Package (JobMaker Hiring Credit) Amendment Bill 2020. We've been here for the last two days debating the JobMaker hiring credit scheme which, in the legislation, is no scheme at all. There have been members who have stood up—many members over the last two days—and spoken about the bill. And many on this side have expressed their deep concerns about the bill and the implications of the bill.

The Greens support this motion. With hundreds of thousands of jobs lost and more than a million people unemployed and already stagnant wages, it's clear that we need massive investment in secure, sustainable and rewarding jobs if we are to rebuild after this crisis into a just society. This can't be done without generational investment in education and training to equip people in communities with the skills that they need. Whether you're just leaving school, you're between jobs in a recession or you're looking to retrain, you have the right to a world-class education.

Over the last few months I've been participating in the Senate inquiry into unlawful underpayment of employees' remuneration, otherwise known as wage theft. This inquiry is soon going to focus on wage theft in Australian universities. Following the series of investigative pieces published by the ABC's national education reporter, Conor Duffy, and in response to my own questions to the Fair Work Commission, I have referred 13 universities to make submissions and give evidence to the inquiry. Most of them have now made written submissions.

The Greens support this motion and we express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of Dede Fredy and Xiaojun Chen. They died at work in a gig economy, which overwhelmingly means insecure work, low pay and utterly diminished industrial rights for workers. Three-quarters of delivery riders earn below the minimum wage. Many gig economy workers are migrants and on temporary visas and are vulnerable to exploitation and wage theft. Our employment laws don't protect workers.