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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 2 Hansard (25 February) . . Page.. 384 ..

Mr Humphries: We were told we should sack them.

MS TUCKER: I hear you say that. I do not recall whether we said you should sack them. I do not think we did. Anyway, you would need to see that there were processes within any workplace when someone has upset how that workplace can work reasonably harmoniously. I would have thought that those processes would be in place within a workplace. To have to legislate some disciplinary action seems to me to indicate that there has not been a lot of thought about the processes within the workplace.

Obviously, these sorts of situations can arise and they are an indication of some huge communication problem. If someone starts hitting someone else at the office party there is obviously a problem in the office that needs to be dealt with by management, because management have a responsibility to ensure that these sorts of things are resolved, hopefully without resorting to physical assault. I am not totally sure that it is appropriate that it should be put into legislation, but I am quite happy to listen to the Government further on this and to discuss perhaps different wording. I will support the adjournment of this debate.

Debate (on motion by Mr Kaine) adjourned.

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

MR WHITECROSS: Mr Speaker, my question is to Mr Humphries in his capacity as Minister for Emergency Services. Minister, I refer to your media statement yesterday entitled "Ambulance crewing and response to be reviewed". In that media statement you claimed:

ACT Ambulance management has been crewing five ambulances on each day shift and almost all night shifts - especially shifts where demand is higher, such as Friday and Saturday nights.

Minister, can you confirm that in the month of February, until the 20th when the tragic incident which has recently been reported in the media occurred, there was no fifth ambulance available on the nights of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 19th and 20th February, that is, 12 out of 20 nights? Furthermore, I refer to your statement that the fifth ambulance is available, and I quote again:

... especially shifts where demand is higher, such as Friday and Saturday nights.

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