Page 1886 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 7 June 2006
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was a bit of a king of the kids and we got 50 players to our first registration day and managed to field teams in the 7s, 8s and 9s and in what we loosely called the under-13s, who were anything from about 11 to 14 years of age. Tony was instrumental in helping that club form and, of course, it has gone from strength to strength since then.
He was also well known for his brilliant phantom race calls. He was a regular at the track. I do not know whether I would call him a colourful racing identity, but I suppose he was. He was just a magnificent proponent of sport generally in Canberra, but particularly of the sport of kings, racing. His funeral was attended by so many friends, showing the high regard in which he was held in our community. I thank Tony for all he did for racing in particular but sport generally and a sense of belonging in Canberra. Tony was a real Canberra identity. He will be sadly missed. He died after a tragic illness. I just want to put on record my appreciation of the life and times of Tony Campbell and all he has done for our community.
Industrial relations
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (6.00): I rise tonight to talk about a series of exciting events that will be occurring at the end of this month. As we are all aware, Mr Howard and his federal Liberal Party colleagues have passed the WorkChoices legislation and it is now in force. The International Labour Organisation, ILO, has listed Australia’s IR laws for an immediate hearing alongside cases from Libya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Guatemala and other countries that are known as the world’s worst violators of labour rights. Yes, the so-called lucky country has been listed by the ILO as being among the world’s worst violators of labour rights.
To assist in giving the workers of Australia a voice, the ACTU has been active in introducing several opportunities to show the Howard government what they think of these barbaric laws. Last year, on 15 November, there was the national day of action that saw states and territories of Australia meet in groups and voice their opinions. During the week beginning Saturday, 25 June and going through to Saturday, 1 July there will be organised meetings in almost all of Australia’s capital cities so as workers can have their say without fear of persecution.
Canberra is beginning the week of action with all workers being invited to come along to the Raiders’ home game against the Sydney Roosters and join others in having their say. The family and community rally will commence at half-time in the match and will encourage all concerned members of our community—men, women and children—to join members of the ACTU and other unions by marching around the field at Canberra Stadium.
I can see that Mr Mulcahy is very interested in attending this event to support workers’ rights, so I will let him know the details as to how he can attend. To get tickets to the game he can email UnionsACT and confirm his attendance. Just in case you are busy working on Sunday and unable to attend this important family event, there will be another event during the week. On Wednesday, 28 June there will be an “orange day” and all employees and employers will be encouraged to wear orange to work. There will also be a chance to decorate workplaces in orange so staff can express their disapproval of the Howard government’s violation of our labour rights.
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