Page 758 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 13 April 1994
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There was a demonstration by the Moore-Stevenson group that the Labor Government was at risk. I expect that they would have pursued that path if I had not chosen to resign. I have done nothing wrong. At all times I think I have acted in the best interests of our Territory, and I think I have been honest in this Assembly. But, of course, it is clear to me and to others that the Moore-Stevenson group would plunge this place into another crisis.
I have decided, in the interests of our party and as sensible government as you can put together in an Assembly such as this, that the continued existence of a Labor government is more important to the ACT than my being a Minister is, and it is for those reasons that I have resigned. My record is something that somebody else will have to make a judgment about as time passes, but I had a look over some of the achievements that I have been involved in throughout the period of self-government in the ACT and I am quite proud of them. I know that some of the achievements have not been agreed with. I think the focus of attention on me in particular has something to do with some of these achievements. I intend to go through them because I think they are worth mentioning.
I want to talk about industrial relations first. In consultation with the Industrial Relations Advisory Committee members, we proposed changes to the discrimination legislation to prohibit age discrimination. These might all sound like small things, but when you add them all up, to me, they are significant. In collaboration with CONFACT and the Trades and Labour Council we moved to promote the rights and responsibilities of employers, employees and the general public with regard to sexual harassment in the private sector hospitality industry. I think that is a very important move.
The occupational health and safety legislation was introduced by a Labor government in 1989, and I was very proud to reduce the designated work group number of employees to 10 so as to ensure that there were more designated work groups in the workplace. There was a great struggle about that. The Liberals opposed that vehemently because they do not care about the safety of workers. They care about dollars. Everything is measured in dollars. You always measure things in dollars. This measure and other measures taken by government have led to ACT workers compensation rates now being amongst the least expensive in Australia. So do not talk to me.
The Parental Leave Act was enacted for the private sector. That was vehemently opposed by the Liberals. That legislation is a lead now being followed by the Federal Government. Change to public holidays legislation removed the problem experienced by workers not receiving public holidays, especially at Christmas. There was a development of proposals for an occupational rehabilitation scheme which is now well advanced, with an interim scheme proposed by the Minister and agreed to by the parties. Twenty-five ILO conventions have been agreed to by the ACT Government. We are now leading Australia in agreement to conventions. Another achievement is our active involvement in the resolution of industrial disputation in the building industry over redundancy payments. We have also made significant improvements to workers compensation legislation to improve benefits and remove anomalies.
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