Page 2544 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 October 1992
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We cannot ignore the fact that there are three industrial unions involved in this process - the Transport Workers Union in relation to the ambulance officers, the United Firefighters Union in relation to the firefighters, and the Australian Federal Police Association in relation to police. They have differing views about how these services are provided. I think that what Mr Connolly has done thus far will lead to better cooperation, particularly between the firefighters and police, as time passes. At the same - - -
Mr Stevenson: It is getting worse.
MR BERRY: Mr Stevenson says that it is getting worse. Mr Stevenson has not been here for long. He is a Johnny-come-lately.
Mr Connolly: He could have asked this at the Estimates Committee.
MR BERRY: Yes, Mr Stevenson could have asked this at the Estimates Committee, too, but he did not bother to turn up. It gets worse because of the incident which occurred at the weekend and which was widely reported, and which Mr Connolly has fixed. It has been sorted out in relation to the police. One would hope that that incident would not occur again. That was a breakdown in procedures.
Mr Stevenson: You have not handled the fact that it is getting worse.
MR BERRY: Mr Stevenson says that it is getting worse. I am surprised that he has been here long enough to notice. He spends a fair bit of time in warmer climes instead of being - - -
Mr Stevenson: You still have not answered the question. It is getting worse.
MR BERRY: Mr Stevenson, it is not getting worse; it is getting better. It will always be better under Labor. It is getting better because there is more cooperation now than has been the case since self-government. Leave aside the history that was created for us by other politicians. Since self-government there is more cooperation between the services than there ever has been. That has been promoted, particularly in these last periods of a Labor government, by a positive approach to industrial relations and by trying to have the parties come to grips with the difficulties between them.
In relation to the ambulance officers, I am pleased to report that there is a generally high level of cooperation between them and the other two services, and we intend to promote that further. There have been some discussions under way between the managers and the Transport Workers Union and the United Firefighters Union in relation to the provision of better and more efficient services. One of the first things being talked about is the co-location of communications facilities. It is quite apparent that both services could benefit by co-location of communications services. It would promote better relationships between those two services. One would hope that they will continually examine more cooperative arrangements with a view to providing better services to the community as time passes.
As Mr Connolly has said, we have chosen not to use the budget-driven approach to this, because of the demarcation implications which might arise if one were to do so. It really has to be, in many ways, a bottom up process whereby people examine the difficulties. In a climate created by the Federal Labor Government,
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