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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (7 September) . . Page.. 2995 ..

MR MOORE: I do not know whether it was 1993. I certainly know that we had Trendstar available to us, but the implementation of that program was going to be extraordinarily expensive. The briefing I received, probably a year ago or earlier, was that the system was out of date and that to spend the money to implement that system at the cost of other benefits and other systems would be inappropriate; that there was some resistance to it from a range of workers within the hospitals; and that there would be a better way of dealing with the approach.

The hospital brought in an adviser to check the technology we were using to make sure we were using the best technology to deliver a whole range of outcomes. The difficulty is that if you look at just one outcome you can often get a particularly brilliant solution for that outcome, but it may not work with other outcomes. We are going to make sure we identify the full range of outcomes we want, prioritise them and then deliver the best possible system, not just there but right across our health information network.

MR BERRY: My question is to the Chief Minister.

Ms Carnell: Are you going to waste your question again today?

MR BERRY: The Chief Minister asks whether I am going to waste my question. If I get the usual quality answer, I suppose I am. Ask for a smack in the ear and you always get one. On 5 September the Federal Court found it was illegal to contract out work to a lower cost service provider on the basis of reducing or eliminating pay and conditions enjoyed by in-house employees. This practice, according to reports, was found to breach the freedom of association provisions of the Workplace Relations Act, because the decision to outsource the work was motivated by dissatisfaction with employees' award entitlements-that is, costs. It has also been held in another decision of the courts that contractors brought into an enterprise will usually need to be paid under the same conditions as existing employees. In light of these decisions, will you now conduct a formal review of all your outsourcing decisions to ensure that the relevant public sector awards and agreements are being applied to outsourced work and contract labour, consistent with the rulings of the Federal Court?

MS CARNELL: Mr Berry's interpretation of the law and legal findings has been traditionally extraordinarily bad. I am not willing to take Mr Berry's interpretation of the law, and on that basis the answer would be no.

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, my question is to the minister for housing. Minister, this week you presided over a function at the Boomerang Centre at which the completion of the refurbishment of the Allawah and Bega Flats was properly celebrated. I know that residents tolerated the temporary inconvenience because the end result was very satisfying. Can you tell me what funds are allocated for the refurbishment of the adjacent Currong Flats and the timetable for that work?

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