Thousands of people gather for Brisbane Labour Day march
The woman who felled Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in his own seat has joined other politicians and tens of thousands of union members in Brisbane for Labour Day celebrations.
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The woman who felled Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in his own seat has joined other politicians and tens of thousands of union members in Brisbane for Labour Day celebrations.
Thousands of public sector workers were among the marchers after rejecting “low-ball wage rises and public sector job cuts” under the Crisafulli Government.
Queensland Senator Murray Watt was also at the march along with Opposition Leader Steven Miles, shadow industrial relations spokesman Grace Grace, Cameron Dick and Di Farmer.
Newly elected MPs Ali France, Madonna Jarrett and Kara Cook attended.
Ms France who was riding on a mobility scooter even made fun of her fellow Labor Party MPs, calling on them to “keep up”
Spotted among the crowd was a pole with a likeness of Peter Dutton’s head on top.
The Electrical Trade Union led the march, followed by the Queensland Teachers Union, the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union, the Transport Workers Union and more.
Members of the CFMEU joined the back of march, chanting “Labor Party, hands off our unions”, “CFMEU here to stay” and “administrator hands off our union” as they entered the RNA Showgrounds.
Some protesters, including from climate action group Rising Tide and pro-Palestine protesters chanting “Palestine is union business” were seen on the sidelines.
Speaking to The Courier-Mail, Senator Watt said the thousands who turned out to march showed working people “expect their governments to care”.
“I think that was one of the reasons we won the election, we had a record of delivering wage rises and secure work for people. And Peter Dutton was promising to cut wages and conditions. And people spoke on the weekend by voting for a Labor government. And these numbers show that that’s what people want,” Mr Watt said.
Mr Watt said he thought Saturday’s result showed “the average Queenslander wants a government on their side”.
“They don’t want a government that is ideological and attacking workers rights and conditions, things like cutting work from home, cutting pay, cutting health service, health services and health funding.
“That was really damaging for Peter Dutton, and I think that sends a really clear message to the state government.”
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Steven Miles urged the Crisafulli Government to treat Queensland nurses with respect, after they threatened to strip their backplay if they were to take protected industrial action over a wage deal.
“They work really hard, they are stretched. They’re going to be even more stretched now that this government has cancelled the new hospitals that we planned for there, and we want to see them get paid,” Mr Miles said.
The state government last month revealed 14 hospital projects were incorrectly scoped and underfunded under the former Labor government, however Health Minister Tim Nicholls said their new delivery plan would avoid further blowouts and delays, promising 2600 new hospital beds.
He went on to say the LNP government “does not respect our public servants”.
“That’s what we’re seeing play out here, they should get to the bargaining table do a deal to make sure that our nurses retain that status is being well paid.”
Mr Miles said this year’s Labour Day would be even bigger than usual because of the federal election result, and that he was excited to share it with many of the new elected representatives.
Ms France said she was feeling “ecstatic for the whole country”.
“I’m just really proud of this (and) it’s really not a me thing. This is a team thing, and it’s definitely in Dickson. There’s people who have been campaigning in Dickson for more for 24 years, and it’s their win, really,” she said.
When asked what her next move was, Ms France said she’d have to “ask the boss!”
Following a march through to Bowen Hills, the Electrical Trade Union, in a dig at the state government, ended their walk by chanting “CFMEU here to stay”.
Originally published as Thousands of people gather for Brisbane Labour Day march
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