Page 311 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 7 March 2007
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referring to the case that has been referred to the industrial relations commission. So I ask you again not to deal with this matter.
MR GENTLEMAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Well, I suppose all I can refer to then are instances that I have been made aware of, where people have not been able to go to work safely, have a safe workplace to work in, provide an income for their family in a safe environment and, as I said at the beginning, get home to see their families at the end of a working day.
Paragraph 3 of this motion calls on the Chief Minister to write to the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner to investigate Thiess for possible breaches of the building and construction national code. These occur where an employer fails to stand by the code and it is this particular area I would like to talk about. Employers and employees—all parties—must comply with the provisions of that code and those that are applicable are awards and workplace arrangements which have been certified, registered or otherwise approved under the relevant industrial relations legislation and legislative requirements.
It has been put to me that companies in the ACT have not been sticking by that code. Also within the code is a freedom of association; all parties have the right to freedom of association. This means that parties are free to join or not to join the industrial associations of their choice and they are not to be discriminated against or victimised on the grounds of membership or non-membership of an industrial association. A person cannot be forced to pay a fee to an organisation if they are not a member.
In my motion I am asking the Chief Minister to write to the construction commission to ask them to inquire into possible breaches of that code here in the ACT. It is clear that impacts of this federal workplace law have happened here in the ACT, and indeed in other states as well. I have here a copy of the safety comments from the New South Wales committee on social issues where they investigated the impact of WorkChoices legislation. In their conclusion on safety they have said:
Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned at the watering down of some OHS provisions in the WorkChoices legislation—particularly as relates to unlawful termination provisions for injured workers, state award OHS provisions, right of entry provisions and OHS training provisions. In the Committee’s opinion, the amendments made to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 by the Workplace Relations (WorkChoices) Amendment Act 2005 and related regulations do nothing to promote safety in the workplace.
With that, I would like to request that the Assembly support my amended motion and call on the Chief Minister to write to the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner to investigate possible breaches of the building and construction national code.
MR SPEAKER: Before we go on further with this, because of the notice we have just received that this is a matter before the industrial relations commission, it does really restrict members’ ability to debate in any detail this matter, it seems to me, so somebody may wish to move to adjourn this to a later date so that the matter can be discussed.
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