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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 5 Hansard (11 May) . . Page.. 1505 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

I heard what the Chief Minister had to say, and I am pleased to be siding with Mr Berry on the issue of choice, or rather lack of, on this matter. This time he has got it right. What this does and what this is is very much anti family. We have seen, over the last few years especially, a greater trend for people to work longer hours, and pressure, whether it be direct or indirect, from employers for their staff to work longer hours. I listened to Ms Tucker when I was upstairs. There have been times when I have had to basically direct some of my staff to have some time off. This is the type of employment that you can get caught up in, staff especially. What the government is proposing is regrettable.

Ms Carnell: Some of us get caught up, too.

MR OSBORNE: I hear Mrs Carnell interject there, and I have to say, quite seriously, that there have been times that I have been worried about her, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. She does work tremendously long hours. I am pleased that she has not been quite as busy lately, not being Treasurer. Everybody needs a break. Workers need a break. They need to be able to walk away and have some holidays and, more importantly. spend some time with their families as well.

So I applaud Mr Berry for raising this issue today. I will be supporting him and I look forward, as I said earlier, to working with other members to try to ensure that staff especially have some time off from this very hectic job.

MR BERRY (4.29), in reply: There are a couple of things that were said in the course of the debate that I would like to focus on. One was the reference by the Chief Minister to workers who might be here for only three years. She seemed to be suggesting that three years without a holiday was okay. I do not think it is. Three years without a holiday is not all right, and sensible employers should be encouraging their workers to have a break with pay.

She also said at one stage that they will be able, if they want to, to accumulate some money, then take four weeks off and go on a holiday. Well, that is what annual leave is about. You get your accumulated annual leave, take the accumulated leave with the money and have a holiday. That is what it is about. To get back to the origins of annual leave: it was something that was formed to provide rest and recuperation for the health and benefit of workers and their families. It is something that has been building as the prosperity of the country has grown.

Mr Speaker, there is just one final matter I need to refer to, rather than repeat things that have been said in this place. These matters have come before tribunals in the past. One was in relation to Arrowcrest Group Pty Ltd's application for approval of an enterprise flexibility agreement. The proposed clause that was to be included was as follows:

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