Page 2105 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Wall, I ask you to resume your seat. I might seek some advice. There has been some quite colourful language: partners in crime, accusations of wage theft.
MR WALL: That was a quote.
MADAM SPEAKER: You have still used it in this chamber and referencing that to the Minister for Health. I will seek some advice. I believe it verges on being unparliamentary.
I will take time to review Hansard. The clock will start again, Mr Wall, and you can resume; but you should be very mindful, in the heat of debate, we are still here to represent our community and not here to have a slanging match across the chamber. Mr Wall, you have the call.
MR WALL: Thank you Madam Speaker. I will continue by saying that there is a complete double standard. The minister is not willing to review the financials and the pay records in ACT Health to determine unequivocally, once and for all, if there is an issue. I interjected before, “Why do not you apply for a secure local job certification on this?” That is what would unequivocally determine whether or not they are meeting their requirements. That is the bar that they have set for the private sector in the ACT to work with government. That is the bar that ACT Labor, in this term of government, has established. That is the minimum standard that you must adhere to as an employer—
Ms Stephen-Smith interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: We do not need any encouragement across the floor.
MR WALL: Here we are with an allegation that they are failing to do that in the government departments that they oversee on behalf of the ratepayers of the ACT. They are clearly sweeping this under the carpet, dodging the serious issue and continuing to preside over doctors being underpaid in the ACT health system. This is a disgrace. It is an absolute, unrelenting disgrace that, in the midst of a pandemic, the chief officer in charge of health, the minister who is responsible for health, is failing to even stand up for doctors and the issue of whether or not she is paying them correctly. This is outrageous. It should not be accepted. In about 60 days the people of the ACT will have an opportunity to cast their vote and move past it accordingly.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (3.51): I was waiting for Ms Stephen-Smith to stand up and speak in relation to wage theft. What we have seen here today is just how hollow the promises of ACT Labor are.
It is really interesting to go back over some highlights of the last little while. I recall a motion from Ms Cody on 13 February 2019 about the secure local jobs code and the “calls on” are really interesting. I will not quote them all. I will just quote the pertinent bits. It calls on the Assembly to pass on the thanks of the Assembly to ACT government employees who worked unsociable hours over the summer. We agreed.
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