Page 374 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 19 February 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
to the people who were trying to keep it alive. The workers were very upset about this. They said, "We can get the work, but the Government does not want it. It is sending people out to say, 'Do not worry about it. It is going to be closed down anyway, and you can get it cheaper from somebody else'". If that is what you call business, this Government does not know a damn thing about business.
Mr Speaker, when we look at the way in which government contracts were being handled by the management in trade waste operations, we find that many bills were simply not being chased up. For example, it is my understanding that at one stage the City Parks Section owed approximately $40,000. I do not know how those officers can talk about the natural inefficiency of trade waste operations, when the government bodies themselves are not even paying their bills.
I will take a drink here. Here is to the health of your enemies' enemies.
I would have liked to see some of the financial details concerning government contracts with trade waste management. However, as indicated in the Auditor-General's report, which has just been released, we are still awaiting statements on the city of Canberra's municipal accounts of 1983-84 and 1984-85. But the point is obvious: Do not be fooled about the inefficiency of trade waste operations or the lack of its market share. The only problem is those opposite and their shocking conservative agenda. As I have said before, Mr Speaker, the real agenda not outlined by this Liberal dominated Government is that it wants to out-Greiner Greiner. It wants to stick to a philosophy of flogging off the kitchen sink and the rest of the house to its mates. The sooner the ACT population washes its hands of this Government, the sooner we can all return to a saner and proper Labor administration.
All this is about is union bashing. They could not get their way with it. They did not run it the way it should have been run, so the best thing is to get rid of it - sell it off; sell off the jobs of the people. Let me make this point here: I spoke to the men out there and they told me that they could not say very much because they were virtually threatened with the words, "These are the jobs you will get. If you shut up and do not say anything, you will get these jobs". Some of them were very happy with their jobs. They wanted to remain there. They wanted to work and get business, but they were not given the opportunity. They were just told, "It is going to be sold off; do not worry about it. If you keep your mouth shut, you will be all right. You will get jobs and you will be looked after".
I understand that some of them are going to take jobs that were downgraded from the jobs that they already had, and they felt that this was wrong. But, as they said, they had families to feed and a household to look after; therefore
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .