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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 29 ..

Mr De Domenico: We already have.

MR WHITECROSS: They say that they have, Mr Speaker. There is one significant productivity increase that they have offered the unions. Mr Humphries's comments in relation to the senior executive and chief executive pay increases are quite revealing in this matter. When we said, "How come John Walker got a 20 per cent increase?", Mr Humphries said, "Oh, that is okay. They were entitled to pay increases. We sacked 10 per cent of the SES so we could pay for the pay increase". That is their approach to productivity.

The only way that Mrs Carnell can get through her head that she can have a productivity increase and the only way that the Liberals can understand the concept of productivity increase is when they sack a few people. What is the main productivity element of their 4.3 per cent offer? The main element is involuntary redundancies under the triple R award. What is the only way, Mr Speaker, that you will get - - -

Mrs Carnell: Like what exists in the Federal award and everywhere else.

MR WHITECROSS: Listen, Mrs Carnell; you might learn.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR WHITECROSS: The only way you are going to get any savings or any productivity improvements out of involuntary redundancies, Mr Speaker, is by sacking people. You have to sack one per cent of your payroll to pay for a one per cent pay increase. That is how it works, Mr Speaker. The only productivity improvement Mrs Carnell was willing to offer was to sack one per cent of members in order to pay for a pay increase. What a flexible, intelligent and sympathetic negotiating approach that is! No wonder they were lodging section 170 notifications in the Industrial Relations Commission last year. No wonder Mrs Carnell has not been able to get anywhere in her negotiations. The reality is that she has not negotiated. The only extra thing she has put on the table is to sack one per cent of the workers in the ACT Government.

Mr Speaker, the final and most significant inflexibility in Mrs Carnell's mind is this absolute fixation that this whole pay increase will have to come out of the pockets of ratepayers and taxpayers in the ACT. She has that absolutely fixed in her mind. She is so inflexible and so dull in her ability to negotiate that she cannot even understand that that is not true. Mr Speaker, the fact is that enterprise bargaining is about productivity improvements, and it is productivity improvements that pay for pay increases. The unions have put a whole pile of productivity improvement proposals on the table, and what does the Government do? The Government says, "Oh, no. All this pay increase is going to come out of the pockets of taxpayers". That is not true.

Mrs Carnell: That is what they say in their - - -

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