Page 2114 - Week 10 - Thursday, 26 October 1989
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Mrs Grassby: I am not ashamed of it.
MR HUMPHRIES: I would be ashamed if I were you. If you knew the sorts of things that go on at building sites around this city and this country, you would not be quite so proud of the things that this legislation will put in place. Mr Speaker, as I said, I am not convinced that Mr Wood's comment about there being general harmony in the committee is really an excuse for saying that the report of the committee should now be rejected.
I believe this is an essential amendment to make. I will support it proudly and I hope that the rest of the members of the Assembly will feel somewhat ashamed when they cast their votes against it.
MR WHALAN (Minister for Industry, Employment and Education) (11.21): Mr Speaker, the Government strongly opposes this proposed amendment. I think one of the most telling comments was a remark which I made in my speech in relation to this matter recently when I pointed out that, if we in the ACT pass legislation which deletes from that legislation reference to "involved unions", we will be joining a very small club of State jurisdictions that have adopted that position. The only current member of that club is the State of Queensland. I am sure that that is not the sort of company that we would like to be associated with when it comes to the question of industrial relations and relations between government and employees. So we would press that we adopt the arguments which have been made so well by my colleague Mr Wood.
In passing, Mr Stefaniak referred to the timetable for dealing with this legislation. It has in fact been some time since the Bill was originally introduced - we acknowledge that - but the time has not been wasted. Considerable discussions have taken place and there were difficulties in bringing certain members of the Assembly together so that we could discuss the matter. I do not think there is anything particularly significant about the time frame in which this has - - -
Mr Stefaniak: Try to get the numbers to change it.
MR WHALAN: I think that Mr Stefaniak, through his interjection, might be very close to the mark. In relation to the "involved unions", we originally proposed that we would simply recognise industrial reality and require employers with employees who are members of unions to consult with those unions before making any final decisions. It must be remembered that employment in the ACT is governed by the Federal Industrial Relations Commission and we have precedence in relation to these matters through that commission.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (11.23): What we have here is not a question of occupational health and safety; it is a matter of the Labor Party buckling under pressure
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