Page 2526 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 23 August 2006
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The added effect of fewer holidays is a major cause of higher health risks, greater chances of burnout, and less time spent with family. This has an effect on all concerned, workers and their health, workers’ families and their health and children and their health. With mum and dad now working longer hours and taking less annual leave, the children spend more time in paid care or in front of television sets eating unsuitable food. This is now affecting the health of the next generation.
Last week in this very chamber, Ms Porter raised the issue of the effect of junk food advertising on our children. With parents working longer hours and taking shorter breaks, it has become increasingly difficult to have the time needed to spend with children and prepare their meals. Mothers, in particular, have begun to feel guilty about not being able to give their children the valued time needed and therefore often resort to feeding the children what they want, and that is not necessarily healthy.
Often that is not always the healthiest option, as I have said, but it is usually the fastest and gives the children the best feeling that mum and dad care. Unfortunately, with more children having nutritionally poor meals, there are higher risks of health problems. Child obesity has been linked with adult obesity and the eating of a lot of nutritionally poor food by children often leads to dietary problems, such as diabetes. So, Mr Speaker, it is not just the health of workers that is at stake here: it is the health of the future generations of workers.
All of these issues seem to point to the inception of the WorkChoices legislation and the fact that workers have been put under added layers of stress as they can lose their jobs easier. That, together with the added ability of employers to insist on employees cashing out their annual leave, can cause less down time and higher levels of burnout. With the extended hours of work, more parents are moving towards giving their children foods that are quick and easy but not necessarily healthy, as we have said, which in turn is causing all sorts of health problems for future generations.
A survey by NSW Health has clearly showed that the bottom 20 per cent of income earners in New South Wales had by far the worst health, including diabetes, obesity and high psychological stress. A spokesperson for NCOSS, the Council of Social Service of New South Wales, has also stated that the introduction of WorkChoices and John Howard’s vision to make Australia more globally competitive through a new belt of lower paid jobs and longer working hours boosting productivity will ensure that poor health outcomes will become a feature of life for modest income earners as well.
It is also a cause of concern how much money the federal government has spent on getting the message out to the community about WorkChoices. This money would have been better spent on looking after the health of workers it is affecting. Mr Smyth is always calling on the ACT government, and in particular the health minister, to provide a further 100 acute care beds. I understand that hospitals are the responsibility of the states but, with all the money wasted on advertising such a flawed and unjust industrial relations system by Mr Howard, there could have been some extra moneys supplied to the states for added health care costs incurred by the draconian laws. Maybe Mr Smyth should talk to his mates on the hill about agreeing to providing some extra funding to aid for the loss of health conditions as part of the implementation of WorkChoices.
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