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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (8 August) . . Page.. 2562 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

have had problems in a number of areas potentially resolved because of the use of AWAs. This has been particularly the case in areas to do with health, legal advice to government and accounting.

I see that the Labor Party promises in the context of the coming campaign that they are going to have a regime where industrial disputation will be minimised. "Workplace tension to ease under Labor," we hear Mr Berry's press release trumpet. I have pulled out some of the headlines in the days when Labor was last in office. One newspaper article was headed "Berry not helpful: union". The article stated:

Unions negotiating with the ACT Government ...

Mr Corbell: I take a point of order on relevance, Mr Speaker. This is not at all relevant to the supplementary question.

MR SPEAKER: We are discussing AWAs. I do not uphold the point of order.

Mr Corbell: Is that article about AWAs?

MR HUMPHRIES: It is about industrial relations. The article contains the words "enterprise agreement"-you can see that in my copy. This is the party that promises that "Workplace tensions will ease under Labor". The article stated:

Unions negotiating with the ACT Government for a public-service-wide enterprise agreement were "really angry" and felt a meeting with Industrial Relations Minister Wayne Berry yesterday had "gone backwards", the Trades and Labour Council said.

Further on in the article, Ms Maureen Sheehan is quoted as saying that the government was "skating on thin ice if they want an agreement".

Mr Stanhope: Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I wonder whether, in reading out the article, the Chief Minister could confirm that it also says that 17,000 ACT public servants do not have AWAs and that 200 do.

MR SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, if we have our way, if we are allowed to continue this program, we will see that more public servants do have access to AWAs.

In respect of Ms Sheehan, the article went on to state:

She felt the Government was being "driven by their own bureaucracy", and Mr Berry had said on occasions during yesterday's meeting, "Treasury won't let me do this or that".

This is Mr Berry, the former Treasurer.

Another article is headed "ACT union head attacks Follett Government". They are fairly angry words. Another article accuses the Labor government of having a "negative cost-cutting-

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