Page 209 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 1991
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Another issue that was raised in the course of this morning's debate was the South Curtin school. The community took on the Government, and rightly so. They had good cause to do so. The Residents Rally members, who had promised that they would support a better education system, had ratted on them and the community was forced to take on the Government - something that was quite foreign to those parents and friends of the education system. The Government knew that it could not beat the community, so it decided to try to divert attention to an ideological dispute between the Government and the trade union movement.
That proved futile because the Industrial Relations Commission would not help them out. They do not own the Commonwealth Industrial Relations Commission as they own other things around the Territory. The Government cannot influence that body the way they influence other people around the Territory. For example, they cannot threaten the Industrial Relations Commission as they can threaten business leaders in the Territory when it comes to contracts.
One of the interesting things that developed out of that dispute was the agreement with the National Union of Workers which took place during the course of that dispute. During the course of that dispute there were also threats by ministry officials. I suspect that one such threat was that the stores section of the ministry might be dismantled if they kept supporting the trade union position on the retention and preservation of the education system in the ACT.
Later on the ministry had to apologise to the union. The ministry had said that, as part of the agreement reached in the Industrial Relations Commission, the department had indicated that the vacated premises would not be used for any purposes connected with school closures. Of course, they breached that agreement. Mr Duby knows that they breached it. They then had to write to the unions and apologise - "Once again, I regret the misunderstanding". What it basically boiled down to is that they ratted on that agreement. That is the way they handle their industrial relations. The unfortunate thing about it is that the level of distrust that has been generated between government and trade unions in the Territory will carry on for some time; but it will be repaired, I assure you, by a Labor Government. The facts are on the record. This Government is hopeless on industrial relations issues. The unions do not trust this Government. I do not think they believe anything they get from the Ministry for Health, Education and the Arts. They have proved that they cannot be trusted. Let us not forget the indication that was given to the Industrial Relations Commission that the Hindmarsh Group was the contractor at the school in question where the alleged industrial dispute was in place. But, all of a sudden - out of the blue - Pendon Construction Pty Ltd was moved into the school. It was an overnight appointment.
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