Page 803 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 2 May 2007
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conditions under which the hens that produced the eggs were kept. We believe that the ACT labelling requirement has been successful. Along with my counterparts in other states, we will continue to campaign for a national labelling standard.
The Greens understand that our bill has major implications for the employees of the industry in the ACT, as well as for the hens. Our preference would be to see Pace convert its facility in Parkwood to free range. There is more than enough space there, and Pace Farm already has plenty of experience with free-range egg farms. Pace is one of the largest egg producers in Australia. The Parkwood facility produces around 210,000 eggs annually, which is less than 10 per cent of its annual egg production but is still significant.
As well as battery cage eggs, Pace produces Liberty Barn Laid RSPCA endorsed eggs, Natural Living Free Range eggs and organic Eco Eggs. This shows that Pace is a highly adaptable company—it certainly has a good adviser on egg labelling—and has a sound understanding of the various commercial systems available, of the consumer demand for eggs and of the fact that when people buy an egg they prefer to know that a chook did not suffer laying it. In other words, Pace has its eggs in many baskets. I believe that, if it was concerned about its employees, it would have the ability to convert.
Another advantage of conversion to a free-range system is that more people are needed to run less intensive egg production processes such as barn laid or free-range systems than are needed for a battery cage operation. This would lead to more employment in the area rather than a sudden loss of jobs. We are talking about 30 existing jobs here, by the way; most of these jobs are in grading and packing rather than in hen husbandry.
I am not sure why, but since 1998 the workforce at Parkwood has decreased from around 50 to around 30. I expect that the government would be happy to work with Pace should they wish to convert their operations to a barn laying system or free-range system. This would ensure that there are no job losses. By the way, the computer on the desk has just gone into rest mode.
Another concern of mine is that in this town there is a distinct lack of regard for people who do not have degrees and white collars. Although there is not a general employment shortage overall in the ACT, I am aware that some employees at Parkwood feel they have no other job opportunities. The decision to take the tender for recycling at Mugga tip away from a not-for-profit organisation and give it to a business with a profit focus is also likely to reduce jobs for this group of workers. That scheme was actually set up to help low skilled unemployed people, so there is an irony there.
I was pleased when the government agreed to my motion to investigate a targeted employment creation and support strategy with a particular focus on low paid employment. The government reported that it believes that its policies are better focused on providing training and skills to enable low income earners to increase their productivity and thereby move forward in the labour market to better jobs with higher wages. Perhaps the ACT Skills Commission could play a role in looking at alternative employment opportunities for low skilled workers.
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