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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 10 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 3439 ..

MR OSBORNE: Yes, exactly. Mr Smyth is confused. He proposes to do it after 12 months. That may well be sensible. Whoever is here in the next Assembly deserves to have some figures from whichever government it is on just how much this scheme is going to cost.

MR BERRY (9.44): I think you may have inadvertently misled us, Mr Minister, because the commencement date for the legislation is 1 July 2002, except for schedule 2, minor amendments. Under the proposal I put forward earlier in the piece-and we are not talking about that at that stage, so I have jumped the gun a bit-commencement, other than for section 80A, which we are talking about now, is 1 July 2002, so nobody is denying anybody anything. What we are trying to do is get an early baseline assessment.

MR RUGENDYKE (9.45): I feel the need to speak on this amendment. I believe that we spoke about this about a dozen hours ago. On that occasion, I must admit to some confusion. Yesterday I had a briefing that did not include this aspect. I did give the government some commitment. I was wondering why confusion existed around discussion earlier today. The reason is that this aspect was outside the briefing I had. A comment was made that data cannot be obtained. For that reason, I voted against this provision.

On this occasion, now that it has come back, I will be supporting Mr Berry's amendment. I sought independent legal advice on this aspect. I asked my legal adviser for his gut feeling.

Mr Kaine: Who gave you the legal advice? Mr Osborne?

MR RUGENDYKE: No, a lawyer. His gut feeling was that you cannot be criticised for asking for more information. I do not know whether the data is available. Ms Plovits of WorkCover, a person for whom I have a great deal of respect, churns out a lot of those graphs that appear on our desks from time to time showing such things as the retail sector having more injuries. Am I on the right track, Mr Berry?

MR SPEAKER: Order! Address the chair, please.

MR RUGENDYKE: I beg your pardon, Mr Speaker, but I have to get this clear. I apologise for the confusion that was around this morning. I now feel that I have a clearer picture, and I will be supporting Mr Berry's amendment.

Mr Kaine: Perhaps Mr Rugendyke can clear the matter up for the rest of us, Mr Speaker. I am still unclear.

MS TUCKER (9.48): I am still unclear, too. I can see particular injuries that have been pulled out-back, neck and pelvis injuries. There is a fear in some sections of the community that this whole scheme is set up to fail because it is going to cost so much. I do not want to see these injuries excluded because of the results of some actuarial assessment. I would like clarification, because I am still not clear, nor is Mr Kaine. Apparently Mr Rugendyke is clear now. I would like to know clearly-

Mr Rugendyke: Don't confuse me.

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