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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 92 ..

UNION DUES - PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS

MR BERRY (10.40): Mr Speaker, I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes that all union members currently using payroll deductions for union dues have provided the ACT Government with a signed authorisation for the deduction of such dues from their pay;

(2) notes that the threat by the Chief Executive of the Chief Minister's Department contained in his Staff Circulars of 2 and 12 February 1996 means that, if staff do not complete a duplicate authority by 23 February 1996, their payroll deductions will be cancelled on 7 March 1996;

(3) therefore calls on the Government to immediately withdraw this threat to the payroll deductions of union dues; and

(4) requires the Chief Minister to convey that withdrawal to all staff in writing before the proposed deadline of 23 February 1996.

This motion is about discrimination of the worst kind. It is about thuggery from the Carnell-led Government. It is about creating industrial chaos. We have the early part of that chaos, which has been created by this Government, occurring outside now. Let us look at the situation. I have quoted these circumstances before. We have a government which tries to impose upon workers in the ACT forced redundancies - read "strikes", read "sackings" - and we have Mr De Domenico threatening lockouts.

Mr De Domenico: That is not true; that is a lie.

MR BERRY: Mr De Domenico calls me a liar. He might withdraw that first.

Mr De Domenico: I said, "That is a lie". I did not call you a liar.

MR BERRY: I think the imputation is clear, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: Would you like to have that withdrawn?

MR BERRY: I would like it withdrawn. If you do not care to intervene on my behalf, I would ask you to.

MR SPEAKER: Did you call Mr Berry a liar, Mr De Domenico?

Mr De Domenico: I did not call Mr Berry a liar at all, Mr Speaker. Had I done so I would have withdrawn it. I said that what he said was a lie.

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