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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 9 Hansard (1 September) . . Page.. 2679 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

have one chance for a special licence, but only that one. As people with these licences can lose only two demerit points before having them cancelled, offenders with special licences must drive carefully to avoid losing their right to drive altogether.

It is important that this Assembly remain committed to improving road safety in the ACT. In recent years, the majority of members have supported the introduction of a competency-based learner driving system and toughened up other laws relating to drink-driving and the more serious non-alcohol-related driving offences. This legislation, I believe, will ensure that the laws relating to unsafe driving are consistent, whether related to alcohol or not, and the removal from the roads of people whose actions are proved to be irresponsible.

Finally, I wish to point out to members that I understand that at this point the national road rules are not intending to address drink-driving as some jurisdictions differ from our own and contain their drink-driving laws in their criminal codes. I commend the Bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Smyth ) adjourned.

MR SMYTH (Minister for Urban Services) (11.09): Mr Speaker, the Government is totally behind any worker in the ACT who is not receiving his or her due entitlements. Whether it is for annual leave, long service leave or workers compensation, if employers are not meeting their obligations, then the Government would like to know. Why? It is because we have remedies for this sort of behaviour, remedies that are already enshrined in legislation. Whilst the Government supports the intent of what Mr Berry is trying to achieve, I am worried that Mr Berry's Bill is akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

Mr Speaker, there are two conceivable problems that this Bill might address; but, unfortunately, Mr Berry has not presented any evidence to suggest that these are actual problems. No figures are available to say how many workers are being cheated out of their entitlements. WorkCover is not receiving an unusual number of complaints from the cleaning industry and, unlike the building industry, there is no evidence of significant transient employment for those who remain within the industry. That, of course, was the reason that the Long Service Leave (Building and Construction Industry) Act was put in place. Employment patterns in the cleaning industry are significantly different. Unlike the building industry, the nature of employment in the cleaning industry is more towards people not staying in the cleaning industry for any period of time. In fact, workers in the cleaning industry are more likely to move into and out of the industry as a whole and are quite unlikely to gain any benefits at all under Mr Berry's Bill.

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