Ms McGowan last week stood by her view that penalty rates should be determined by the Fair Work Commission rather than politicians, following a rally outside her Wodonga office, saying “I’m totally against special rules for special people.”

“The reality is that these changes to penalty rates hurt people,” Mr Kerr said.

“These ‘special people’ Ms McGowan refers to are those struggling to get by: single parents, families, young people, students.

“The change comes at a time when the gap between the wealthy and poor continues to grow wider, the government is proposing giving large Trump style tax cuts to big business over regular Australians.”