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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2096 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

We understand it, and more and more the community in the Australian Capital Territory understand it. They have been deceived when it comes to industrial relations. They were told that they were going to get much better, and they got much worse.

Mr Speaker, other areas which demonstrate the inability of this Government to cope with the management of industrial issues emerged in the course of the Estimates Committee process. I have mentioned this before, Mr Speaker. At the risk of repeating everything I said, I will say a few more words on the matter of the Acton Peninsula dispute. In terms of industrial disputes, it is not one that will occupy much space in the history books; but, when you have a look at the timing of it, it demonstrates all that is wrong with this Government. The dispute on Acton Peninsula was over jobs. Interestingly, the dispute commenced on the day that the Government announced a budget which was alleged to have a focus on jobs. This was demonstrably untrue, because that major job on the ACT's most controversial site was arranged in such a way as to leave out of the picture workers, truck drivers and transport operators in the Australian Capital Territory.

Mrs Carnell did not have the courage to tell this Assembly exactly what was going on down on that site. Instead, as has become her custom, she said the first thing that came into her head, to put a different spin on it. Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell said that it was a fight between two unions. I imagine that she thought to herself, "That will throw them". The fact of the matter is that the workers on the site, in effect, won the day, and further questioning of Mrs Carnell in relation to the matter in the committee resulted in her flick-passing it to Totalcare.

Officers of Mrs Carnell's department denied that they had any idea of the outcome of the dispute. I find that strange. I find it strange that a department which has the responsibility to manage industrial relations and government relations on such a sensitive issue would not know the outcome. In any event, the matter was then further raised when the Estimates Committee was talking to Totalcare, and we were advised in due course that this issue was about jobs. It was reported in the local media that it was about jobs. So, Mr Speaker, there was an attempt to mislead the community over that industrial dispute because it detracted from the Government's budget. The budget allegedly was about jobs, and we could not have a situation breaking out there where the community would find out that this Government was, in fact, about exporting jobs. Mr Speaker, that issue was one of concern.

There is another matter which I have found of concern. Not so long ago, there was some dispute in this place and outside about tobacco consumption in the Australian Capital Territory. Much has been said about what occurs in licensed premises of various sorts in relation to tobacco consumption; but when the question was asked of officers involved in Worksafe - or is it WorkCare?

Mr Kaine: I do not know. You tell me.

MR BERRY: You are the Minister. I thought you might be able to give us a hand there. (Extension of time granted) In relation to occupational health and safety and the code of practice for a smoke-free workplace, when the question was asked whether the officers had any idea of how many businesses in the ACT had in place the recommended code of

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