Page 2786 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 September 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
The attempt by Mrs Carnell to mislead the community and the media about our tourism figures is quite reprehensible. I am pleased to see that she did have to admit to her mistake. It was either a case of being caught out in putting forward a view which was far from the truth, or else it was an error on her part. I would say to you that we have seen a great many errors coming from the other side. Either way, I would encourage Mrs Carnell to check the facts and to read the whole page, not just one line. There is only one page. The figures there are very easy to understand, and they point to a very vigorous industry - certainly not the ailing industry that Mrs Carnell would like people to believe exists.
Government Service - Workers Compensation
MR DE DOMENICO: My question without notice is also to the Chief Minister. Chief Minister, during the Estimates Committee hearings you stated that Comcare had suggested that part of the reason for higher workers compensation premiums was the higher incidence of stress claims by ACT public servants. Can you advise the Assembly of what information you have at hand that would explain why ACT public servants are more stressed out than their Federal or interstate counterparts? If you have no such information, could it be because Comcare cannot justify their reason for increasing the ACT's workers compensation premiums, and they should be dumped as a workers compensation insurer?
MS FOLLETT: Mr Acting Speaker, Mr De Domenico has raised a couple of issues. The first is that I did make available to the Estimates Committee the Comcare report that I had available to me, so I presume that all members have had the opportunity to examine it. It does show a reasonably high incidence of stress related claims for the ACT public service. I make no judgment about how those claims came about or whether they are justifiable or not; but the claims are there and they are reflected in the cost of the Comcare premium. I am also aware, Mr Acting Speaker, that the Standing Committee on the Public Sector, which is chaired by Mr Kaine, has on its agenda the further study of Comcare issues, and I am happy to make all assistance available to that committee in their scrutiny.
Mr De Domenico made a final point about whether or not we should dump Comcare. As I said to the Estimates Committee, the cost of premiums, wherever they are paid to, whether it is Comcare or some other insurer, is directly related to our claims history, and, as I said quite openly to the Estimates Committee, our claims history is not terrific. We have had a high incidence of work related injury and illness, and we have had also a very long period of time before people have returned to the workplace. I have said all this, on the record, to the Estimates Committee. I believe that that issue needs to be tackled quite aggressively. I have asked the new Department of Public Administration to take on a service-wide approach to workers compensation issues, and they have agreed to do that. Until we reduce both our incidence of illness and injury and the time taken before people come back to work, no matter whom we insure with we will be paying premiums higher than we probably should. So, no; I have not examined the issue of dumping Comcare, because I want to get to the real issue, which is that workers in the ACT Government Service are being injured more and are taking longer to recover than I believe they should. That is the issue that is being addressed as a priority.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .