Page 3826 - Week 14 - Thursday, 10 December 1992
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So, let us get the facts on the record. Let us talk about exactly what it was; it was a strike that you supported. Ironically, page 5 of the Canberra Times carried an interesting little remark too. This is another quote. It said that the political rally attracted a united front from most sections of Canberra's trade union movement and had the unqualified support of the ACT Labor Government. But interestingly, Mr Deputy Speaker, the Industrial Relations Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Berry, said:
There is a strong commitment from our (trade union) roots from the Chief Minister across the board.
When one listened to the Chief Minister prior to the strike one could agree with Mr Berry. We know that the Chief Minister says a lot of things. But when it came to taking any action, putting her money where her mouth is, she used her henchmen. She sent Mr Berry, Mr Connolly and everybody else there, but she did not turn up herself. She jibbed it, like she does most things. She comes into this house, stands up and smiles and tells everybody how great she is, but when it came to doing anything she jibbed it. She had no guts to be there herself. So much for our Chief Minister.
What was said around the country about this? The remarks of the New South Wales Premier bear noting. He said that, while only a few thousand had been involved in the rallies, millions of dollars had been lost in the State's economy. The Liberal leader, Trevor Kaine, said virtually the same thing, as did most political pundits around the country. More importantly, let us find out what the people of Canberra said. This is a government that prides itself on listening to what the community says. Let us listen to what one particular member of the community said. This particular lady has three girls, aged 11, 18 and 22. These are her words. She has a clapped-out motor vehicle that is not on the road and she could not drive it in the condition that it was in. She had had a hysterectomy about three weeks ago. She had a doctor's appointment in Chapman and she lives in Rivett. Normally, she would catch the bus and walk to the surgery, but on the day of the strike there was no return bus available. She would have had to walk about two miles to get to the doctor. She went to see the doctor the following day.
One of her three girls, an 11-year-old girl, is retarded and goes to Duffy Primary School. She needs to commute between home and school by bus. If she is not home at the same time every time or finds that the bus is not there, she gets a bit concerned. This lady tried to ring up and find out what was happening on the day of the sandwich in the park situation. She tried to ring up and find out what was happening at 9.00 am that day. She got through to the Woden interchange. These are her words:
A guy told me not to worry as they'd be docked their time.
She said that this was not the point; that his docked pay packet would not pay for the inconvenience caused to her and workers would probably pick up the money in penalty rates. She was then told to get stuffed, by the bus person at the Woden interchange who then hung up in her ear. That is how the community was treated by these wonderful people that these people opposite support and who go and have sandwiches in the park at lunchtime. This lady was told to get stuffed, by a worker who was probably at the rally afterwards.
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