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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 27 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

irrelevant and unproductive. The question to be determined is: What parts of the trade unions' claims on the Government are legitimate and are sustainable? When we get to that point we can discuss whether or not the Government can fund it, and I submit that any reasonable claim would be met by the Government and would be funded.

Ms Follett and Mr Berry said only three things that I thought were relevant, and they used 35 minutes to say them. First of all, the Leader of the Opposition said, "We have a responsibility to act on behalf of the community". She then spoke for 20 minutes in support of the trade unions, not the community. Mr Berry even sought an extension of time - he had 15 minutes - when he spoke on behalf of the trade unions. You have to wonder whom they are acting as advocates for. Despite the Leader of the Opposition asserting that we have a responsibility to the community, they are not acting as advocates for the community at all.

Mr Berry said, first of all, that I did a pretty good job as Industrial Relations Minister, and he was dead right.

Mr Berry: Reluctantly.

MR KAINE: You said that I was fairly successful. That is right, I was, and I am prepared to get into the debate now if anybody thinks it is worth while my doing so. But he also said, "You are supposed to negotiate, not engage in a publicity stunt". What is this debate about? Is it negotiating, or is it a publicity stunt? It speaks for itself. Mr Speaker, I am disappointed, as I am many times, about the fact that we come in here and we debate these issues that have no relevance to anything. Somebody simply seeks to make a political point and the whole objective of all of this is lost. The objective of this debate is to come to an agreement with the trade unions on their legitimate concerns. The Leader of the Opposition talked about the legitimate concerns of the trade unions. I have no doubt that they have some; but, when they ask for a 9 per cent pay rise, I do not think that is legitimate. That is a concern, but it is not a legitimate one. If we can focus on the legitimate concerns of the trade unions and enter into a rational negotiation on the matter, I am sure that we can come to a conclusion.

Mr Speaker, most members have used all of their time. Some have used more than their time. I do not intend to do that because I assert that this debate is pointless. It is meaningless. It adds nothing to the total value of the negotiations that should be taking place. It diverts the Chief Minister and the Minister for Industrial Relations from what their job is, and that is to get on with the question of negotiating with the trade unions.

I would have been much happier, Mr Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition and the "me too" Greens had put forward a motion that suggested that they might assist the Government in some fashion to reach a multipartisan approach to this question. I am quite sure that, if the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition were to sit down with the Chief Minister and the Minister for Industrial Relations in a non-confrontationalist, rational and reasonable way, they could greatly assist in arriving at a solution to this problem. But no; they come in here and they

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