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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 06 Hansard (Tuesday, 22 June 2004) . . Page.. 2406 ..

been in business—maybe one—so you really have no idea what you are talking about. You have no idea of the impact this bill will have on the business community. You can sit there, self-righteous, and say, “We’ve got it all taped. We know exactly what we’re doing.” But you do not.

What has happened to WorkCover? I would stand here and applaud the efforts of WorkCover. Why have we seen—Mr Smyth alluded to this earlier on—the cutting back of WorkCover? Why have we seen this body being reduced bit by bit? We should be suspicious of the government’s intention to table this bill and so downgrade the power of WorkCover. Why is the shift of power happening with WorkCover? Why has the education unit gone from WorkCover? Why all of a sudden are resources being drained from WorkCover and more put into focusing on what the outcome of this bill will be? More power in another direction.

There is comment after comment in here, which I am not going to read. I am just rising to say that it is a ridiculous bill. The notion that you are going to bring the business community with you is ridiculous. As you do with everything, you will just ride roughshod over everybody else. You sit there believing that you will be back in government in October, and you are thinking, “What the heck; it doesn’t matter.”

Mr Quinlan, it is sad that you have not listened to the business community and, Ms Gallagher, that you have not listened to what people have been saying. You have not heard one thing that they have been saying. You do not care what they say, and you do not care about the case they have put before you. You have not listened to them saying to you that they want safe workplaces. They invite and welcome safety in the workplaces.

Why have other areas not been strengthened, rather than this whole new thing here that just downplays the role of WorkCover? There are so many things in the bill that we have here in terms of rights of entry. Can’t you understand why people are afraid? Where the thinking is coming from beggars belief. I really do not understand.

We have here right of entry for representatives of employee organisations. This requires support for both direct and representative union-based participation and workplace safety arrangements. There we have it. It is all about the unions. It is more power to the unions and more control for the government. New provisions for right of entry in the bill will ensure that representatives of organisations with members or potential members in a workplace can enter work premises where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act has happened, is happening, or is likely to happen.

It is the Job theory: the thing we most feared has come upon us, so we will just all rush in anyway just to make sure that it does not happen. It totally flies in the face of all this government has said about being business friendly. Do you really think that is going to make a few people warm to you and to what you are offering them? The tabling statement goes on to say:

These new provisions will enable employers to work together with their employees to solve problems as they develop, and are essential to the spirit of cooperation in the workplace.

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