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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Wednesday, 31 March 2004) . . Page.. 1463 ..

from running a pharmacy as a sublessee will not affect any pharmacist operating out of a shopping centre; rather, it will stop pharmacists operating as sublessees of other businesses such as supermarkets. I commend this bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Smyth) adjourned to the next sitting.

Adjournment

Motion (by Mr Wood) proposed:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Mr Brian O’Reilly—retirement

MR BERRY (5.32): I would like to let the Assembly know that today is Brian O’Reilly’s last day as secretary of the plumbers union in the ACT. He has served the union movement in the construction industry for 32 years. Appropriately, he will be taking his long service leave from tomorrow onwards. Brian is married to Ann; he has three children and four grandchildren and I think in the future he will be taking a closer interest in his family and his other interests such as golf and fishing.

Brian emigrated from England with his wife and their first child in 1963. He joined the plumbers union in 1964 and worked on construction in the ACT and surrounding areas. Whilst working on the construction of the Woden Valley Hospital, Brian was encouraged by his fellow workers to start part-time organising as an official of the Plumbers, Drainers and Gasfitters Employees Union of Australia.

In 1972 Brian became a full-time official of the union and has vigorously served workers in the construction industry and government for the past 32 years. Brian’s achievements for better pay and conditions for his members are well recognised, along with those routine pay struggles which have gone on throughout industry over many years. In 1981 he had the vision and foresight to help establish the ACT Construction Industry Long Service Leave Board which had their first meeting on 1 October 1981 and this provided of course, as members well know, an administrative body to manage the assets for employees in the construction industry and, later on, the cleaning industry. Brian has, of course, provided me with a great deal of assistance in putting together legislation to establish the contract cleaning industry fund, which was established here during the period of the former government. His wisdom on these matters is well known. He has been associated with the construction industry board since its beginning. I do recall Brian’s strong commitment to these particular benefits over many years when I served with Brian on the local Labor Council, and I have come to regard Brian as a loyal friend.

Brian also provided me with some sound advice in relation to the Long Service Leave (Private Sector) Bill, which is before this house. I know that he would be disappointed that this did not come to fruition before he retired because for over 20 years he has been a strong advocate for these schemes and he has seen the success of them at first hand. For example, none of the members of the scheme that he became so closely associated with could lose their entitlements in the way that those involved in the Ansett collapse did.

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