Page 5872 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

It is rank hypocrisy that we are seeing now on the part of the government and the Greens when they stand up in here with their crocodile tears, when back in 2010 they were conducting themselves in a manner which was entirely contradictory with looking after the front-line workers of the ACT—in particular in that case of ACT Health.

MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (5.47): The Greens will be supporting the amendment moved by Ms Gallagher. We believe it does add further value to the motion. I particularly note the contribution that Mrs Dunne and the Canberra Liberals made in drafting the substantial parts of the new paragraph 2(b). We were quite happy to support those amendments when they were sent over to us by Mrs Dunne. I think she has picked up the essence of what we had in mind and perhaps made it somewhat clearer, and I am quite relaxed about acknowledging that between the various parties we have come up with an even better motion today. I welcome that.

I guess the nature of the debate here today and the combined efforts reflect the fact that reducing assaults against workers is something that we all agree on. There is obviously a level of consternation around some of the history, which Mr Hanson has focused on. But the tripartisan support today is certainly very welcome and I think it speaks to the seriousness of the subject matter. I look forward to having a look at the data that Ms Gallagher has tabled today and I also look forward to the more detailed strategies being released by the last sitting day in February next year; the motion seeks to have that information presented. As I said earlier, once we have all the data and the current prevention strategies, we will be in a much better position to gauge where our attention as an Assembly should be directed.

I thank members for their support today and I look forward to continuing the discussion.

Amendment agreed to.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

Commonwealth public service—proposed cuts

MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (5.49): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes:

(a) the Federal Labor Party’s scheme to sack up to 3 000 Commonwealth public servants;

(b) the impact job losses will have on the cost of living for Canberra families; and

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video