Page 2558 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 8 August 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
furthest away from the minds of the No Self Government people.
The Bill that I introduce today will provide the added benefit of ensuring long-term improvement in productivity through decreased time lost due to workplace injuries, in addition to the benefits which have been provided by the legislation carried by the Follett Labor Government.
The thrust of the original Bill was to move away from rigid inspectorial legislation towards encouraging workplace arrangements, with both workers and employers taking responsibility for their own safety arrangements. That thrust was resisted by the conservatives opposite and all steps possible were taken by them to continue the adversarial role of workers and their employers in the workplace on the issue of occupational health and safety.
The original 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. Of course it became an Act, but the benefits have yet to show through. One of the difficulties was that shortcomings were included in the Bill as a result of cooperation between the Liberals and the Residents Rally and others in this Assembly.
Self-government in the ACT has again been thrown into disrepute by the combined actions of the conservatives opposite. Workers who have been cut out of proper occupational health and safety protection in the workplace argue, quite rightly, that those in the Government opposite do nothing for workers in this Territory, particularly in the provision of workplace safety. We have heard many speeches and much rhetoric from those opposite. Not much comes of it in terms of action except that the Residents Rally springs from one turnaround to another - the revolving door of decision making. This is particularly so in the case of its leader who makes policy on the run, changes it day by day, and then runs to his party machine to try to prop himself up in the electorate. It has not worked. Those in the party machine, try as they might, sit back looking like stunned plovers in the face of the changes from their leader and the electorate laughs.
During the debate on the original Bill significant amendments were moved, all aimed at weakening its effects and leaving workers in the Territory without the full protection required. I must say that you, Mr Acting Speaker, played an important role in presenting the Liberal philosophical position from the then Opposition benches.
That resistance was based on the old conservative position of keeping labour in its place and ensuring that the adversarial role was persisted with by employers in the workplace, in that there was no power sharing on the issue of the provision of workplace safety. In a Territory where the costs of workplace deaths and injuries have been
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .