Industrial Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth says exclusive modelling that revealed allied health and aged care workers would be up to $34,000 per year worse off if reforms opposed by Pauline Hanson failed to pass shows “just how much of a threat One Nation” is.
Senator Hanson is increasingly positioning herself as the country’s next potential prime minister, but has faced pushback over her record on workers’ rights.
Since Labor returned to power in 2022, Senator Hanson has voted against same job, same pay reforms for labour hire, multi-employer and supported bargaining, criminalisation of wage theft, and has opposed increases to the minimum wage, which are decided by the Fair Work Commission.
Analysis by the Health Services Union, which examined the wage price index and data from the McKell Institute and other sources, estimated that under One Nation’s workplace agenda, an allied health worker would be between $29,000-34,000 worse off per year.
Speaking on Wednesday, Ms Rishworth said the analysis showed “just how much of a threat One Nation and the Liberal Party would be to workers in this country”.
“In particular, the analysis today shows that our allied health workers, along with our aged care workers, would be between $20,000 to $30,000 a year worse off if One Nation, the Liberal Party, and the National Party had got their way in opposing our laws,” she said.
“This demonstrates that the three right-wing parties would be a real threat to workers in this country. Think about the work that our aged care workers do, our pathologists, our radiographers do. These are the people who care for us, who make sure we are healthy.”
Assistant Minister for Social Services Ged Kearney said health sector workers already did not “earn a great deal of money, so $30,000 is a lot”.
“So, I think what we need to say to people out there is that when Pauline Hanson says she’s on the side of workers, she simply is not, and you would be worse off with Pauline Hanson,” she said.
For aged care workers, they would be up to $20,000 worse off per year if they engage in labour hire, according to the findings.
Pathology workers stood to be $9300 worse off per year, while hospital cleaners would lose out on some $6100.
Across the healthcare and social assistance sector, workers would be on average $8826 per year worse off per year than were presently, and up to $9942 per year worse off
by the end of 2026, according to the report.
HSU NSW/ACT/Queensland secretary Gerard Hayes said Senator Hanson’s plan for wages and job security was “really just a more savage version of what the Liberals delivered for ten long years”.
“Opposing minimum wage rises, smashing job security and opposing gender pay gap measures is like dropping a cluster bomb on wages and conditions,” he said.
“Hardworking health and aged care workers do back breaking work and they don’t have Gina Rinehart waiting in the wings to look after them if things go wrong.
“Decent pay rises, solid superannuation and strong job security are the very bedrock that give health and aged care workers a bit of decency and stability.
“Senator Hanson is just a more extreme version of the Liberals and she needs to be called out.”
The analysis found allied health worker wages had risen by between $8000-13,000 per year as a result of wage rises, including for workers such as physiotherapists and radiographers.
A further $1200 per year had come from the passage of multi-employer bargaining, while gender-based undervaluation changes could account for up to an additional $20,000 per year, for some classifications.
For aged care workers, changes to bargaining were estimated to have accounted for an additional $600, wage theft reforms a further $1840, and gender-based undervaluation an additional $10,000.
Addressing the National Press Club in Canberra for the first time last week, Senator Hanson said there was a “big concern” among businesses and called for a “complete overhaul” of industrial relations laws.
“I understand there is a struggle that is happening in people being able to afford to pay their bills, but there has to be a balance,” she said, questioning how businesses could pay for increased wages.
“Industrial relations, I can assure you, needs a complete overhaul, because its not working.
“Businesses also tell me you can’t sack people these days. They’re (workers) on their phones, they don’t work, they don’t turn up.
“They actually are lazy and business is tied to it. They’ve had enough.”
Senator Hanson, a small-business owner, said the main cost being borne by businesses was electricity.
On Tuesday, Ms Rishworth said she was “very disappointed … but not surprised” by Senator Hanson’s criticism of workplace relations laws.
“Pauline Hanson, One Nation have had a long history of not supporting workers in this country,” she said.
Ms Rishworth criticised Senator Hanson’s opposition to measures such as same job, same pay, as well as minimum wage rises and paid parental leave from employers.
“I am really concerned that a future right wing government made up of the Liberal Party and One Nation will indeed roll back workers’ entitlements,” she said.
“We know that both the Liberal Party and One Nation want to make it easier for workers to be sacked. Pauline Hanson was very clear about that. The Liberal Party in the past has advocated for that.
“So, I am concerned that a right wing government made up of One Nation, the National Party, under the party, is a threat to working people in this country.”
One Nation has been contacted for comment.
Read related topics:One NationPauline Hanson