Page 1598 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 17 May 1994
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MR BERRY (9.05): The Liberal Party will be opposing this Bill for all the traditional reasons, most of which go to the refusal of the Liberals and their traditional supporters to accept that there is a responsibility to return to the work force some of the profits which they draw from their businesses and from the community in order that those profits can be turned into benefits for the broader work force. The construction industry is a very special case because of the nature of the industry, bearing in mind the different areas in which it operates. Take, for example, the cottage industry. In the heavy construction industry the work force is of a transient nature but is a work force which is very important in the national context. It is a work force which is very worthy of protection and reinforcement by way of training and worthy of the necessary cash to provide that sort of training.
We heard from those opposite a great deal of concern about the taxes on business and where they ought to go. They put the very shallow argument that because businesses pay taxes the employment of workers in the work force is threatened. That is a whole lot of nonsense. It is the same old argument that has been peddled by the conservatives for a long time. If business is not forced to pay its way, then it will not pay its way, and therefore the community at large will lose out.
The Liberals opposite have on many occasions put great stock in the argument that the young people in our community ought to be protected. Where are they when the opportunities that would flow from these sorts of levies to young people are proposed by the Labor Party? They withdraw from their original argument that the young people need protection and training and that they need opportunities for employment. They are not interested in that. They are not interested in young people at all. All they are interested in is running the same old rhetoric about the unions having too much control over this, that and the other thing.
Mr Cornwell: Yes, that is true; but we are not running that.
MR BERRY: Mr Cornwell says, "Yes, it is true". The Liberals say that there is an overbearing bureaucracy that will soak up most of the taxes which are paid. The fact of the matter is that the people you are supporting here tonight do not deserve to have a say in what is provided for the work force. There needs to be in place a process which ensures that the resources which are collected by government provide for sensible training programs rather than going into the pockets of those people who seek to profit from the business that they conduct.
Mr Cornwell: You would be really amusing if you were not so pathetic.
MR BERRY: Of course you would find it amusing, because you do not have a concept about the need for business to share. The people who do well out of the community are required to make a contribution. What is proposed here is to ensure that that contribution is made in the better interests of the community and, in particular, young people. Those opposite bleat often about the impact on young people. They continually bleat about the unemployment rates which unfortunately obtain here in the Territory.
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