Page 1440 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 26 September 1989
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It was perhaps the complexity of effecting suitable legislation that held us all back, and perhaps still does. We have a problem. You walk into that club that I mentioned and others, and many other parts of this town, and it is not just the employees that you have to legislate for; it is the patrons. As a realist, I know what would happen if there were a blanket ban on smoking in all places: there would be a great outcry with the question of civil liberties and the rights of individuals no doubt being raised. But it is very important to note that we must take some action in the not too far distant future to protect our citizens.
At a seminar held by the National Safety Council of Australia in 1986, the chairman of the Occupational Health and Safety Commission stated that the biggest problem underlying this matter was the existence of deeply entrenched attitudes by both smokers and non-smokers. He pointed out that changing the policy regarding smoking at work might have little effect on those attitudes. So changing the policy is not, on its own, enough. We have to take a great deal of time and effort to educate people, to inform them, to explain to them what the important issues are. But I do believe that these are matters we have to attend to; we cannot overlook them indefinitely. We may need also to take a further step on what happens in our own buildings and formalise the rulings that have been made because I believe, by courtesy of the Speaker, that these are rather informal, and they may need to be placed into legislation.
So there it is. If we are looking at the occupational health and safety needs in this Territory, let us look at what the American Surgeon-General would say is the most important need. It will not be long before we will need to examine those. When that happens I hope that we do not progressively modify, diminish and water down such legislation as will be necessary.
MR BERRY (Minister for Community Services and Health), in reply (4.44): The occupational health and safety agreement that was reached between my department and unions associated with community services and health was a major step for the Government in terms of the introduction of occupational health and safety in the Territory.
In this debate there have been some satisfying and some somewhat surprising statements made by respective members in relation to my ministerial statement on this matter. Mr Moore said that it was gratifying to see unions working together in this sort of agreement. I must say that it seems to contrast with his own involvement in the development of occupational health and safety legislation for the Territory. His contribution really sets out to weaken the power of that sort of legislation in the pursuit of occupational health and safety for workers in the Territory, whether they are unionists or not.
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