Page 179 - Week 01 - Thursday, 9 April 1992
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astonishing, what do you do to get the mistake ratified, or to get something illegal made legal? The problem is solved. Just make it legal. Go into the Industrial Relations Commission and say, "Listen, change the word 'illegal'; let us change it to 'legal', and everything will be all right". The old Fawlty Towers syndrome: If it is my fault, and someone catches me - - -
Mr Lamont: Your ex-Chief Minister approved the process.
MR DE DOMENICO: No, no; what does Basil Fawlty do? He smacks Manuel right behind the ear. Problem solved; blame the messenger. It always happens. It always works - sometimes. Unlike the deafening silence from the Government's Industrial Relations Minister, I will refuse to be gagged, even by the former secretary of the Transport Workers Union. Did you think they would use him to try to settle the dispute? Not on your nelly. They were not sure on whose side he would come down; that is why. Is he going to support his union mates, or is he really going to support the people of the ACT, the ones who on Monday were left stranded at the bus stops? On Monday morning, all the kids went off to school; but there were no buses. But, ironically, those same bus drivers who refused to tell anybody that they were going to go on strike on Monday morning, do you know when they worked? They worked on Saturday and Sunday. They did not work on the Friday or the Monday.
Mr Cornwell: Do they get paid more for that?
MR DE DOMENICO: Penalty rates, Mr Cornwell; thank you very much. You got it right on the head. I will tell you what was on on Sunday too: The rugby. You need articulated buses, do you not, to take people to Bruce Stadium? And what happens if you drive articulated buses in the ACT? You get paid even more. But when Mr Schulz, on the Matt Abraham show last week, was asked, "Listen, is that just a coincidence?", he said, "Of course it is. It was not done on purpose. It was entirely a coincidence". And some people believe him. There they all are. You can count them. One, two, three, four, five, six. Some of those did not believe him either; but they are not going to say so, are they?
Mr Cornwell: When it comes to schoolchildren, though, the quality of education goes out the window.
MR DE DOMENICO: There is still a deafening silence. What about the Government? One of their number was a trade union secretary, David Lamont. He said nothing about the thing. Yesterday, out came the ACTION annual report. I fully expected that the matters I am raising here would have been answered. In April 1991 the Auditor-General said, "Hey, listen; illegal payments. It is $110,000 a year over a long period. There is nothing in an award that says that we should have paid them $110,000 a year, but we continue to pay them". But we see nothing in the ACTION report that came out yesterday. What does this one say, though?
Mr Connolly: The Liberals continued to pay it. We fixed it.
MR DE DOMENICO: Hold on; this was not done when the Liberals were in government. You gave me a copy yesterday.
Mr Connolly: Yes, it was. It is for your period of office.
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