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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (8 March) . . Page.. 682 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

change too. But you would have to say, on the basis of the figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last month, that most unions in the ACT, and for that matter around the country, are not keeping pace with their members' needs.

According to the ABS, as at August 1999, just over 26 per cent of employees in Canberra, or about 38,000 workers, were members of a trade union. That represents barely one in four workers. Mr Speaker, that is an absolutely dramatic decline. Back in 1993 there were 52,000 employees in unions, and 36 per cent of the work force were union members. In other words, over the last six years there has been a loss of 14,000 union members, a drop of 27 per cent in the ACT. That is an enormous drop, and that is despite the fact that there has been a rapidly growing work force over that period and, of course, the creation of the ACT stand alone Public Service. So we have had a growth in the number of people in the work force, but an actual real reduction in the number of people who are union members.

It is worth noting too, Mr Speaker, that over the same period the percentage of union membership Australia-wide has fallen from 37 per cent to under 26 per cent. Right now, Mr Speaker, in terms of union membership, the ACT ranks equal fourth of all States and Territories.

So what has happened, Mr Speaker? What has caused this huge drop off in union coverage? Well, for a start, we know that between 1993 and 1999 the ACT's share of private sector employees increased from 50.5 per cent of the work force to over 58 per cent, so this significant growth in the size of the private sector certainly could be seen as one of the reasons for a drop off in union membership as, traditionally, the private sector has a lower membership rate than the public sector.

But the real conclusion that one can draw from these figures, Mr Speaker, is that they show that for more and more Canberrans the union movement has become less and less relevant in the workplace. They also reflect the decline in importance of unions to the future direction of the ACT, as workers have voted with their feet and their wallets either to leave the union movement or not to join.

Mr Quinlan: I take a point of order, Mr Speaker. Within the new regime that you are now operating, is this an answer to a question or is it an elongated speech?

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, 21/2 minutes.

MR SPEAKER: No, in fact the Chief Minister has been speaking for three minutes.

MS CARNELL: Three minutes. Sorry. That included - - -

Mr Quinlan: How long to go? What is the limit?

MR SPEAKER: I will be asking people to wind up, certainly, if it gets to four minutes. Is that all right? That is a figure that I understand applies in the Senate.

MS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I am very happy with that as long as the interjections are taken out.

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