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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 7 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 2105 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Another issue I would like to comment on is the pay rise. I do think we need to get it on the record that drivers are not asking for a lot. From my understanding, it is about 6 to 7 per cent over three years. That is CPI if we are lucky. It is not even CPI. I think the propaganda that is being put out by the Liberal Government is union bashing. It is not honest. It is really why I am very concerned about what the Minister is claiming to have said. It does indeed look to me as though he has misled, but I look forward to his explanation. It looks like an orchestrated attempt to discredit this union totally to justify the Government's stated policy to privatise the bus services. We have had much rhetoric, as usual, that we all care about having a good bus service and so on. I have already put arguments about why I am not convinced this Government is able to provide that. Questions are raised by the philosophy of small government and large private providers that Liberal governments all around Australia espouse and that governments in other developed countries around the world have adopted. The results that we see in countries with such a philosophy are not good. In fact, it is quite a disaster for people who are disadvantaged. We are not confident in this Government's ability to delivery.

Mr Osborne needs to remember that he says that he wants the Assembly to be more powerful. Once again, for that reason, I am disappointed that he supported Mrs Carnell's amendment. This is about acknowledging the importance of the Assembly when such major decisions are made.

The Graham report was referred to a lot by speakers in this debate. The Greens' position on the Graham report is well documented. We are concerned about the zone system. Graham recommended that efficiencies be found in the way the workers were working in the industry. That is exactly what this negotiation is about. As I said, it appears to be reaching a conclusion that appears to be satisfactory, if all those conditions are being met.

Comparisons have been made with other States. I understood - this can be clarified by Mr Smyth if I am incorrect - that negotiations were going on in other places in Australia to increase salaries for bus drivers, so those comparisons in the Canberra Times editorial that has been quoted here today are not necessarily accurate or current.

The comparison with private drivers concerns me a lot because of the general picture that is coming out across Australia about poverty and the working poor. There have been a number of reports, including one from Western Australia recently on poverty in that State. We are finding a continued thrust to downgrade the salaries of people. The gap between the well off, such as those opposite, who have just accepted another 16 per cent, and those on the lower end of the salary scale is getting much wider. In fact, the Smith Family and other organisations are having to support a lot of people who are actually employed but whose salaries are not adequate.

We hear protestations from the Government in this place that they desire to see an equitable society and that they do care about social justice. Yet they continue to rationalise downgrading of salaries according to the lowest benchmark that they can find, which is in the private sector. That is because, as we all know, the private sector has a profit motive and is not necessarily going to look after the interests of their workers. The Federal Government's Workplace Relations Act has made that much easier. I believe we are seeing a serious diminishing of rights, conditions and salaries that people in Australia have taken for granted. I think it is very concerning.

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