Page 1534 - Week 05 - Thursday, 11 May 2006
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The recent edition of the Australian TAFE teacher, the official journal of the Australian Education Union, TAFE division, devotes an article to the IR reforms. The article poses the question: who is caught by the new federal IR laws? It points out that it is the territories and Victoria that are immediately affected. That means the ACT, Mrs Burke. The recent United Services Union’s official journal devoted a number of pages to an attempt to give members information about WorkChoices and pointed out that the most vulnerable at the moment are those who are about to start a new job. I quote:
Any new worker who has to accept an individual contract—or an Australian Workplace Agreement—as a condition of employment will only be entitled to a minimum wage of $484 a week and will have no entitlements to automatic penalty or overtime pay.
The Private Hospitals Association, an organisation that might not immediately be thought to be left leaning, has a cover story on the IR reforms in their latest journal Private hospital, headlined “IR changes shake the workforce”. The article gives an outline of the mean features of the legislation and Kevin Andrews’ and John Howard’s views. It also references the nurses federation, stating:
The IR legislation may also have a negative effect on the current nursing shortage and the quality of patient care. We already know that nurses walk away from the profession when they feel undervalued. We know that nursing will not be an attractive option for young people entering university if these laws lead to the erosion of employment conditions … We have already seen employers gearing up to take advantage of the extreme laws, in aged care facilities where nurses face a wage gap of around $200 per week.
This situation could be even worse in the ACT. I recently discussed in this place an ACT aged care nurse’s wages gap of nearly $300, and it may well be worse under the federal government’s so-called reforms. Registered nurses are in short supply. Do we want to attract nurses to this profession or do we want to drive them away?
It is ironic that this motion appears before us even as the states’ High Court challenge on WorkChoices continues. When the rest of the country wants to talk about WorkChoices, we have the ACT Liberals wanting to shut down the debate, discussion and inquiry. Despite the attempts of the opposition, I believe this Assembly will not neglect the working families of the ACT. I will support Mr Gentleman’s amendment.
MRS BURKE (Molonglo) (11.25): I draw members’ attention to House of Representatives Practice. I may have said this before in reference to house select committees:
Select committees are appointed, as the need arises, by a resolution of the House. Select committees, in Australian practice, have a limited life which should be defined in the resolution of appointment. The creation of a select committee is seen as a measure to meet a particular and perhaps short-term need
It seems to me that the comments from both Ms Porter and Mr Gentleman try to have a bob each way in this. They certainly wandered off the essence of what I was saying here. That is their call; they can do that. But obviously they then resumed the well-worn
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