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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 401 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

ACT Government on this issue. Chief Minister, can you inform us, first of all, whether you heard that interview; and, secondly, whether, as you understand it, it represents a substantial movement towards resolution of the problem on the part of the unions?

MRS CARNELL: I did hear the interview and was surprised, to say the least, when I heard the president of the Trades and Labour Council, Ms Kate Lundy, speaking this morning. I know that all members are keenly interested in the current enterprise bargaining dispute. For the information of members, I will read a transcript of what Ms Lundy had to say. She said:

Really, 3 per cent is what we're seeking to be fully Budget supplemented and linked specifically to CPI. The other 6 per cent will be found through productivity.

When I heard that I said, "Heavens! I thought that was our position". This is fascinating and, I might add, a welcome development, because in their written submission, put to the Government, the TLC demanded a 9 per cent fully budget supplemented wage increase.

Mr De Domenico: But was she not the president of the TLC?

MRS CARNELL: That is right; she was the president. It seems that it was not a real ask after all. It is there in black and white, in clause 13.2 - "9 per cent fully budget supplemented". In addition, I have lost count of the number of faxes I have in my office from union officials saying, "No trade-offs; pay the lot". You have only to look on the buses outside that we seem to have more of lately. They have on them big signs saying, "No trade-offs". But this morning on radio Ms Lundy went on to say:

... the unions have been finding it quite hard to get that message out to the community - that that extra 6 per cent will be set off with productivity increases and productivity measures as part of that agreement.

Ms Lundy said quite definitely that, unfortunately, the unions have been misunderstood. They always meant to say that 3 per cent was budget funded and 6 per cent was productivity based. Can I say that, if this is genuinely the TLC's position, then no wonder they found it difficult to get the message out to the community, because their own submission states categorically, "9 per cent fully budget supplemented". As I said, we have buses parked outside, with signs on them saying, "No trade-offs"; but they did not ever mean it, it seems. What they meant was 3 per cent fully budget funded and 6 per cent based on productivity. That is certainly an enormous change.

If Ms Lundy's comments on radio this morning do represent the TLC's position, then I certainly welcome the apparent turnaround; but this dispute has cost this city $2m-plus. If this was their position from the beginning, it certainly shows a very interesting approach, as Mr Berry says, to industrial relations. Given that the Government's position throughout this dispute has been 2.6 per cent fully budget supplemented - not a great deal different from Ms Lundy's 3 per cent - with further

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