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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 140 ..

MS FOLLETT (continuing):

This has been a very sorry saga. There is no doubt whatsoever about the motivation of the Government in taking this action. I think it was intended to provoke the work force into industrial action; and it certainly succeeded. It was intended to frighten people about their union membership. It was delivered to the very desk of most of the work force. I believe that it had a reaction that possibly was not anticipated by this Government, ignorant as they are of all matters to do with industrial relations and, in fact, working conditions. The fact of the matter is that the unions and their members simply would not cop this kind of high-handed action from the Government. I think Mrs Carnell is still trying to perpetrate this myth that members do not have a choice as to whether or not they are in unions. Of course they have a choice. They have a choice now. They have a choice as to whether or not they sign this form. They have a choice as to whether or not they sign the union membership form. They can freely choose to opt in or opt out of either system.

Mrs Carnell continues to treat this Assembly with the same sort of contempt with which she treats her own work force. I believe that she really thinks we must be mugs to cop the kinds of fraudulent arguments that she has been putting forward and still is putting forward. Simple repetition will not change my mind, Mrs Carnell. I believe that, in everything to do with the action taken by the Government, the Government's motives were totally dishonourable and that the arguments put forward were fraudulent. I support the motion that has been put forward by Mr Berry because it is very important that we never see this sort of sorry saga repeated. This is about a right and a choice that people in our work force are currently free to make. Let no government interfere with that choice, particularly not when you are treating people with contempt by trying to persuade them that you are actually extending their choice.

In conclusion, I believe that I have an apology to make to Mr Moore. I had not understood that he would be supporting today's motion. I never at any stage said that he would not, but I was actually absent from Canberra when he said that he would; so I do apologise for that. This is the kind of government action that should be opposed by any right-thinking person in the community, and it is. Only a government that is so arrogant and so out of touch with its own work force and its own community standards could ever believe that this kind of action was acceptable. I urge the Assembly to support the motion.

MS TUCKER (4.23): The Greens will be supporting this motion also. I have listened to the debate, and I think some statements - I would not necessarily say that they were fraudulent - have not been as clear as they could have been. I was interested, too, in the statement regarding the CPSU. When I clarified it, I did understand, through the history, that the reasons - as Ms Follett has already described - were to do with a fear that the possible incoming Liberal government would cause a sudden ceasing of this arrangement. It was not really quite clear, from what you said, Mrs Carnell, that that was the reason. From what you said, there was an implication that it was in some way in sympathy with what you were doing. Another thing that was not made clear to us, certainly in any of the briefings or discussions - and maybe it was just taken for granted that we knew it - was that this was a service that was paid for; it was not a favour. It also was rather enlightening to find that out.

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