Page 3888 - Week 10 - Thursday, 27 August 2009

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MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (5.47): This amendment would remove proposed new section 55. As I argued in the in-principle debate, the Greens accept the need for the chief executive to declare an industry hazardous to ensure that workplace safety processes are in place across the board. It is not an action that will be taken as a matter of course, but as a fallback. It is a way to make and enforce a requirement that workers need to be involved in safety procedures in their workplace in that particular industry. The question really revolves around ensuring improved workplace safety. This legislation has been developed over many years with employer, worker and regulator involvement.

As I have already said, the Greens will not be supporting this amendment to delete proposed new section 55A, but instead support the Liberal Party’s back-up amendment that would make this section disallowable. We will also have a closer look at the regulations when they are made available.

Amendment negatived.

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (5.48): I move amendment No 1 circulated in my name on the white sheet [see schedule 2 at page 3906].

This amendment deletes from the new proposed section 55A(3) the provision that this is a notifiable instrument and makes it a disallowable instrument. This is the Liberal Party’s fallback position. As I have said before, we think that the capacity for the chief executive to declare an entire industry, irrespective of the performance of people in the industry, as a dangerous one, on the face of it, seems unreasonable. At the very least, the chief executive should be answerable to the Assembly on such a potentially draconian decision. Therefore, by making this a disallowable instrument, such a declaration would come before the Assembly and could be disallowed if it was deemed necessary to do so. This is the absolute bare minimum of accountability that we need when we are making such important laws.

MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (5.49): As I have already indicated, we will be supporting this amendment.

MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella—Minister for Disability and Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Corrections) (5.50): The government will not be supporting the amendment. I cannot for the life of me think why the declaration of a workplace as being an unsafe place would need to be dealt with here. If an industry is so hazardous that an inspector has to declare it as hazardous then it should be declared as hazardous, and I think it should be notifiable.

Notwithstanding that, the other thing, of course, that we are ensuring is that if those opposite want to move to disallow such a declaration they are going to have to put on

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