Page 2229 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 31 October 1989
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is quite a ridiculous statement to make - and that the Residents Rally is not in any way supportive of or involved in assisting the union movement.
Mr Speaker, I would remind members of the debate on this matter when the matter of involved unions was raised. We were encouraged to remove that particular element from this legislation. People were pleading with us to remove it. The Residents Rally rejected that request because we support the right and the role of unions to operate in all workplaces.
Mr Whalan: But you eliminated them by another mechanism.
MR JENSEN: We will come to that, Mr Whalan.
Mr Whalan: You have eliminated the unions by a backdoor method.
MR JENSEN: Am I allowed to continue, Mr Speaker, or are we going to let the Deputy Chief Minister continue on? The Residents Rally has undertaken, as we have already indicated, to review this matter in relation to the size of the designated work group. We are happy, as my colleague Mr Collaery has already said, to move towards a slower change in this area. The building unions need to show the members of this Assembly that they are prepared to operate with this particular legislation in the best interests of the total performance of the building industry. There is no personal vendetta by the Residents Rally against the Building Workers Industrial Union. I have had a number of cordial discussions with Mr Berry of the Building Workers Industrial Union in recent times and we have discussed a number of areas. We may agree to disagree at times, but these discussions have been cordial and there have been no problems.
The Residents Rally's position on this issue is quite clear. We reject entirely the rhetoric of the Deputy Chief Minister in this area, the outrageous statement that the Residents Rally has moved to the right and is not interested in or concerned about union workers in the ACT.
Mr Kaine: He is just trying to intimidate you. Do not be intimidated.
MR JENSEN: Mr Kaine has said that the Deputy Chief Minister is trying to intimidate me. That is a bit of a joke. Better men than Mr Whalan have tried to intimidate me and they failed. There is no problem as far as that is concerned. The Residents Rally will support the amendment proposed by Mr Stefaniak in this matter, and you can rest assured that we will be watching both sides very carefully - the unions as well as the employers - to make sure that this legislation is operating effectively and efficiently for all people of the ACT.
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