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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (9 August) . . Page.. 2671 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

is little educational benefit for smaller class sizes in that cohort. But, okay, they have made that promise and maybe you could perhaps do that a bit better.

So that leaves him $8 million for other initiatives. The Labor Party already concedes that the alternate bus fare will be about $800,000 per annum. So we have $4.8 million left for the other proposals. There is a raft of them. I saw half a page of about 15 other things they would like to spend money on. But they have $1.2 million per annum to do that. That is not going to go very far, Wayne.

So I think Labor's budgeting credentials have again been exposed as unsustainable and fanciful. It would be a bit of a worry if this lot took over after the next election because I am not too keen on their economics.

Australian workplace agreements

MR BERRY: My question is to the Chief Minister. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chief Minister said I was wrong when I described secret AWAs forced on ACT government workers as compulsory. Advertisements for ACT government positions state:

Terms and conditions will be regulated under an Australian workplace agreement.

I have had a look at the Concise Oxford Dictionary. It defines "will" as "intend unconditionally". I looked right through and I could not find "might" or "may be".

Mr Stanhope: Or "negotiable".

MR BERRY: Or "negotiable"-none of that. It was not there. It always comes out "compulsory". It is "intend unconditionally"-in other words, compulsory. Since this was raised yesterday, information has been flooding into my office. I refer to the "e-bulletin" of Education and Community Services. I draw attention to a position in the sport and corporate resources division:

Note. The successful applicant will be offered an attractive performance-based package.

In other words, if they do not take it, they do not get the job. It goes on. It gets even better. I go on to a position in the youth and family services division:

Note. This position has an attractive remuneration package, the terms and conditions of which will be regulated-

not "shall be negotiated", "might be negotiated" or "can be negotiated"-

under an Australian workplace agreement.

Here is another one in the sport and corporate resources division:

This position has an attractive remuneration package, the terms and conditions of which will be regulated under an Australian workplace agreement.

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