Coronavirus, Retail Workers

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (15:38): No teacher, nurse, police officer, supermarket worker or any other worker should go to work to be abused, to be spat at, coughed on, punched in the face, have shopping trolleys rammed into them, receive death threats or be called offensive names. However, this is what is happening to supermarket workers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the government stated that supermarkets were an essential service, a service that would remain open during community lockdowns, a service this state government felt was so essential that they deregulated trading hours, even outside lockdown periods, so that shops could trade 24/7.

For many, retail is the gateway to employment. I am sure many in this parliament started their working life in retail and fast food, as I did at Hungry Jack's, shoulder to shoulder with 14, 16 and 17 year olds, someone's daughter and someone's son. It is staggering to know that over 85 per cent of retail and fast-food workers, many of whom are just teenagers, have reported experiencing customer abuse in some form.

There are retail workers like Katie, who works at Woolworths and has lost count of the number of times she has been verbally abused. Katie feels that, just because she works in a store, customers feel that they can treat her differently with few manners. Morag, who is a customer service manager at Woolworths, has been punched in the face, clawed on the arm, spat at, coughed at and gets abused weekly. Morag has worked at Woolworths for 30 years and feels that abusive behaviour is getting worse.

The pandemic has brought out the very best and the worst in our communities, not only at home but across the country. According to the National Retailers Association, some retailers have seen a 400 per cent increase in customer abuse during the COVID pandemic. The frequency of customer abuse towards retail workers cannot be ignored any longer. This government can and must do more.

I am proud to stand with the SDA and their 25,000 members of retail, warehouse and fast-food workers who are calling on the government to follow the New South Wales Liberal government by introducing spitting and coughing fines in South Australia. During the pandemic, supermarkets have been deemed essential by this government, but the people who work within the very walls of these buildings are yet to be deemed essential.

Workers like Katie and Morag have joined many in taking the time to share their stories of customer abuse. They are not statistics; they are South Australians providing an essential service. We have seen this government act quickly to deregulate trading hours, based on little to no Health advice. Now they need to act quickly to protect retail workers from abuse and violence.

I will move quickly to a different topic for the closing remarks of my matter of interest in order to remember a very important South Australian. I want to ensure that his story lives in the pages of our state's history book, Hansard. I recently received one of those dreaded phone calls that none of us want to receive. A dear family friend was taken too soon. Roger Morgan, of Maitland, wore many hats: a South Australian ambulance trainer, a member of the progress association, Meals on Wheels, church, music and arts club, and the Maitland Show Society. But to me he was just 'coach'.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. D.G.E. Hood): Take your time, the Hon. Ms Bourke. I will allow you some more time.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: Coach Roger, in his full parachute tracksuit and whistle, would stand on the side of the hockey field week in and week out, even if he did look a bit like a dag, yelling words of encouragement. After his children had outgrown junior hockey, Roger did not leave. Roger was a fixture of the Yorke Peninsula hockey league and stayed on the sidelines for many years, throughout my time playing hockey, as well as many others.

For three years, I have coached hockey teams at the Gilles Street Primary School. Only last year, a student asked why I volunteer my time to coach other people's kids. I quite simply said, 'Because of Coach Roger.' Without people like Roger, kids would not take the field, there would not be local shows and meals would not be delivered to the most vulnerable in our community. My thoughts are with Roger's beautiful family, especially Di, Rebecca, Adrian and his grandchildren, and his many proxy grandchildren. May his stories forever be remembered.