Page 2051 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 15 May 2013
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Ark Tribe is a construction worker from South Australia who faced six months in jail simply for not attending an interview with the ABCC.
Ark was working on the Flinders University site in Adelaide. Conditions were so bad that workers drew up a petition calling for safety improvements, on a handtowel.
It took an intervention by the union and the state government safety regulator to get the most pressing problems fixed and finally, after several days, things began to get back on track.
One by one workers from the site were called before the ABCC. Ark refused to do so.
In Ark's words: “If I've done something wrong, I'm prepared to cop it, but I won't be treated unfairly.”
It is interesting to see Mr Seselja, recently referred to as the number one Liberal Senate candidate for Canberra at the AHA awards, now using the ACT Legislative Assembly to support Eric Abetz and many of his federal colleagues who want the ABCC to be returned.
I will quote from a paper by John Buchanan from the Workplace Research Centre entitled, “Who will protect our IR protections?” He speaks about the federal coalition’s IR policy and the Fair Work Commission:
Left unstated in the policy is how Abbott and his likely minister for workplace relations, Eric Abetz, will exercise their considerable power over the commission to influence the outcome of industrial disputes and the content of awards.
The main impact of the policy would be through initiatives designed to further confine unions’ ability to operate effectively. These initiatives include:
…
Re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission (a Howard government agency that, among other things, severely limited the common law protections available to union members and delegates in the construction sector)
While I thank Mr Seselja for his support on workplace safety and his call for all to work together to reduce the incidence of workplace injury across Canberra, I raise again this divergence where we see him actively supporting the return of the ABCC that, in the view of the majority, did nothing but scare workers into not reporting workplace safety issues. Mr Assistant Speaker, I urge all members to support the amended motion.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
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