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Mr Hird: That is on your side.

MR BERRY: Mr Hird keeps interjecting. The people in the Ginninderra electorate are a wake-up to his support for a government which does not consult. All those workers out there who value their workers compensation will welcome this particular piece of legislation.

The Bill seeks to give some certainty, some reassurance, that the Government cannot spring the changes, which I have referred to in other areas, on workers in relation to their workers compensation and rehabilitation provisions, without the promised consultation. We have seen again and again the lie of the Liberal promise for open, consultative government. At a time when we have seen falling workers compensation costs, I think due largely to a change in culture brought about by Labor's occupational health and safety reforms, we cannot allow standards to drop, or we will see workers suffer. Most importantly, we need to ensure that there is a formal process in place which will send to workers out there the message that, even though there is a Liberal government in place, we have enshrined in legislation a process which will lock the Government into formal consultation.

That is the message that workers out there will welcome. That is the relief that they are beginning to look for. More than ever, we need to refocus our efforts on the rehabilitation of workers injured at work. This council is a step in that direction. It is, if you like, the second stage in the process, because the Occupational Health and Safety Council, which was put in place by Labor under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, provides a very similar facility to that which is proposed in this legislation. It is a tripartite consultation arrangement which advises the Government on how it should move on workplace safety. It is an arrangement which has the confidence of the trade union movement and has the confidence of workers in the workplace. But that is not to say that the job is over. Certainly, in the area of workplace safety more work is required to ensure that we get to a position where workers are assured of going home after a day’s work in the same condition as they left in the morning. We just cannot sit idly by; we must be vigilant at all times to ensure that workplace safety is improved.

Once we get past the first step, we still have to ensure that, where workers are injured, appropriate rehabilitation and compensation measures are being developed. We need a constant eye kept on the development of those provisions. This process will do that. It will be a formally regulated process that will continue to provide advice to the Government. The council will be required to report annually to the Assembly so that we know exactly what is going on in relation to that important area of workplace rehabilitation and compensation. I commend the Bill to the house.

Debate (on motion by Mr Humphries) adjourned.

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