Page 4548 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 23 November 2005

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .

Mr Corbell: “Tokenistic” might be a better description.

MRS DUNNE: It is a token, it is a symbol, but it is a token and a symbol that points us in the right direction. It is an important message that says, “Don’t needlessly use good quality drinking water for something like this.” This minister has found himself to be out on a limb because he has been shown up to be not in sync with his own Minister for the Environment. The Minister for the Environment is saying, “Save water” and Simon Corbell says: “I don’t care. I’m going to encourage people in Canberra to waste water.” This is a dreadful indictment of this government, and it shows that they are entirely inconsistent and have no thoroughgoing policy on water efficiency. They also have no thoroughgoing policy on dealing with putrescible waste. And this is a minister who presides over a plumbing regulation system that is obviously in disarray because it cannot be enforced.

Motion negatived.

Safety in the construction industry

MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (5.25): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) recognises the importance of:

(a) safety in the construction industry as vital to our community; and

(b) industrial rights in the construction industry as an internationally recognised right and a means of workplace safety;

(2) condemns the Federal Government for its attempts to reduce safety and restrict the rights of workers in the construction industry through provisions of the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act, namely the:

(a) exclusion of industrial action on the grounds of safety concerns;

(b) introduction of penalties of up to $22 000 for individuals who partake in industrially motivated actions;

(d) ability of Australian Building and Construction Commission inspectors to enforce a penalty of imprisonment for six months against any worker who does not attend for questioning, answer questions or who obstructs an investigation or fails to handover documents; and

(3) calls on the Federal Government to revoke the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act on the basis that it jeopardises the safety of the thousands of construction workers employed in the ACT.

Early this morning, probably whilst the majority of Canberrans were still enjoying their sleep, thousands of men and women from the building and construction and

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .