Page 244 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 February 1990
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That this Assembly -
(1) directs the Government to implement immediately the former Labor Government's legislation on occupational health and safety; and
(2) calls on the Government to restore the provision in the original legislation that a designated work group should comprise 10 employees rather than 20.
Mr Speaker, the first piece of legislation of the Follett Labor Government was the Occupational Health and Safety Bill 1989. As members will recall, it was introduced on the basis of a very firm commitment by Labor in the election campaign to deliver that sort of legislation for workers in this Territory, and it was introduced by the then Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Paul Whalan, on 25 May 1989. It was a crucial piece of legislation for workers in the Territory. The glaring need for that protection for workers in the ACT was long recognised. Its prime aim was to protect the health and safety of workers in the ACT. One of the great surprises to me was that the Liberals in this place took a stand of opposition to the sort of protection that the legislation would have provided for workers in the ACT. That was recognised by workers and unions in the Territory, particularly the Trades and Labour Council of the ACT, which took a strong stand about the introduction of that legislation.
The motion that I have moved will have the added benefit of ensuring long-term improvement in productivity through decreased time lost as a result of workplace injuries. The thrust of the legislation was to move away from rigid inspectorial legislation towards encouraging workplace arrangements, with both workers and employers taking responsibility for their own safety arrangements.
The Bill was referred to a select committee of the Assembly, which reported on 6 July 1989. The Bill was then amended, debated and passed by this house in November. It is now an Act. It is about time that the Canberra community began to see the benefit. As it stands, the people of the ACT could be forgiven for believing that self-government does nothing for them - lots of speeches, lots of misrepresentation, as I pointed out earlier, and not much else.
During the debate on the Bill many significant amendments were moved and carried, all aimed at weakening its effects and leaving workers in the ACT without the full protection required. I think this Assembly's disastrous handling of that legislation will remain as a scar on the first few months of this Assembly's performance because many workers lost some of the confidence that had been built up by Labor in the first place. In the Territory, where the costs of workplace deaths and injuries have been estimated at $120m to $240m per year, it is important to ensure that we improve workplace health and safety arrangements.
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