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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 6 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 2099 ..

Thursday, 19 June 2003

The Assembly met at 10.30 am.

(Quorum formed.)

MR SPEAKER

(Mr Berry) took the chair and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.

Death of Mr Matthew Reynolds

Motion of condolence

MR STANHOPE

(Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Community Affairs and Minister for the Environment): I move:

That the Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Matthew Reynolds, the newly re-elected National President of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and tenders its profound sympathy to his family, friends and colleagues in their bereavement.

Mr Speaker, I would like to express sincere condolences to the family of the late Matthew Reynolds, national president of the Community and Public Sector Union, the CPSU. As well as his position on the CPSU executive, Mr Reynolds headed the union's public sector and policy division. In a statement released soon after his passing, the CPSU referred to Matthew as a generous, decent and loveable man, and a great trade unionist. And that is how he will be remembered.

Matthew's generosity extended beyond his commitment to industrial relations matters to a genuine community spirit, demonstrated in the much-valued offer of assistance and fundraising efforts that he initiated and supported following the January bushfires in the ACT.

Yet his most significant contributions were seen through his leadership of the CPSU in negotiations with the ACT government over the last 12 months, culminating in the certification of agreements for ACT agencies and statutory authorities. The ACT government and the CPSU, as led by Matthew, have formed a close working relationship since the October 2001 election, and this has been proven by the outcomes of the recent enterprise bargaining round in the ACT public service.

The accomplishments made by the government and the union movement in the last 12 months through collaborative efforts to see employment conditions improve for ACT public service employees have seen significant achievements in regard to attaining pay parity and pay increases for ACT PS employees. These successes were achieved through direct negotiations with the CPSU and other involved unions in what could only be described as open communications between the parties, because this environment facilitates a good-faith bargaining and expeditious and agreed outcomes for staff.

Mr Reynolds' unexpected death has come as a great shock to the ACT government, to those public servants with whom he was associated and to the Canberra community. He

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