Page 2705 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 15 August 2017
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work they do—a very simple thing but one that is very rarely taken seriously or given proper consideration by those opposite.
Securing payments for smaller contractors is essential to make sure that the economy remains viable. We see too often examples such as the collapse of SMI, which happened earlier in this term. Many local businesses missed out on payments because of that collapse.
Another example: just a few weeks ago I heard from a medium-size civil contractor who has been left owed over $70,000 on two government projects. This local business was engaged as a subcontractor to the government’s head contractor and has not been paid for the work that it has done. The contractor that they were working for is hiding behind a commercial dispute. The individual who is owed $70,000 is fearful that that money is being used to prop up less viable projects that the other company has, at the expense of their being paid for the work that is being done, despite having already paid for the materials, the work, the staff and all the on-costs involved in completing the project as an agent for the ACT government. The response as to what options were available, when I wrote to the Chief Minister and Treasurer in this regard, was “This is a business dispute. It needs to be sorted out between the businesses.”
Consider, if this were an example of an employee rather than a business, what the union movement that they are so beholden to would be doing in relation to a worker not being paid for the work that they had done. But it seems that when it happens between businesses it is completely okay—forgetting the fact that these businesses are the ones that create the opportunities, create the jobs and pay the salaries of the staff that they employ. A solution to this would be, you would think, simple and forthcoming, but there has continued to be an unwillingness to address substantial issues in our economy such as this.
Moving to workplace safety and industrial relations, it would be remiss of me not to mention the proposed changes mooted by the minister in this space. I would like to once again place on the record that any legislative change to enshrine the unions’ power of veto, as seen in the MOU between the Chief Minister and UnionsACT, in legislation will never be accepted by the Canberra Liberals. We rely on good governance, transparency and a level playing field, not favouritism to vocal lobby groups. The MOU is inappropriate, unfair and continues to give unions unprecedented veto power and influence over government contracts.
In relation to the ACT’s record on workplace safety, I was very pleased to hear Minister Stephen-Smith speak positively about the safety rates for workers in the ACT when she said in her opening statement during the estimates hearings on 21 June:
I am pleased to inform the committee that injury rates across the ACT public and private sectors continue to fall. Public sector data indicates that the number of work injuries in 2016-17 is four per cent lower than in 2015-16 and 13 per cent lower than the previous year. In the private sector the most recent independent actuarial review shows that lost time injury rates are at 10-year lows.
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