Page 4064 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 24 November 1993
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cannot negotiate an acceptable solution, they should turn to the appropriate next step, which is arbitration as per that agreement, to which Mr Berry was party as Minister for Health for the last two-and-a-half years. That is what should happen and that is what this amendment to the motion calls for. Madam Speaker, I move as an amendment:
Omit all words after "Assembly", substitute "urges the Minister for Health and the Visiting Medical Officers to immediately re-enter face-to-face negotiations to end the dispute in public hospitals, including if necessary arbitration as outlined in previous Visiting Medical Officers contracts.".
Motion (by Mr Lamont) agreed to, with the concurrence of an absolute majority:
That so much of the standing and temporary orders be suspended as would prevent consideration of private members business, notice No. 2, relating to the strike by Visiting Medical Officers, taking precedence of executive business beyond the time fixed for the expiration of private members business.
MR BERRY (Minister for Health, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport) (11.56): I want to put the Government's position in relation to the amendment. The Government will be opposing the amendment. The amendment is a lot of nonsense; it is just a little game Mr Humphries plays. You were spinning a web of deception about what would occur in relation to the Industrial Relations Commission. Already the matter has been notified, so the process will proceed. If the parties show good faith, and we will - all we need to rely on is that the AMA shows good faith and agrees to an arbitration process - it is then up to the parties to work out who might be the arbitrator. If within the arrangements of the Industrial Relations Commission the parties agree to an arbitrator, I am happy with that.
As far as face-to-face negotiations are concerned, that has already been done. It has been done to death over the last five or six months. I have met with them personally. I do not meet with everybody throughout the Government that has an industrial dispute, but I have met with them personally. We had a discussion one evening that went on for two or three hours. They took a proposal back to their members and rejected it. Reasonable contracts were offered, we agreed to the $132 amount, and so on. We have bent over backwards to deal with the AMA. They have been particularly intransigent on the whole issue.
The Government will oppose the amendment and support the motion. I repeat what I quoted earlier in response to Mrs Carnell:
If your members are prepared to sign the contracts I will ensure the discussions continue on those matters outside the core elements on which the rate of $132 per hour depends. I guarantee that agreed outcomes from those discussions will apply where applicable from the date on which the contracts are signed.
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