Page 1583 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 6 June 2023
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The minister came in here and talked about worker safety, but there is a culture of fear within the police, for which he is a minister, and there is a culture of fear within schools, all the way through, from the principals down.
What about emergency services? He is also the minister for emergency services. The ambos recently said that it is like a dictatorship. The minister talks about what governments should do, and we agree: there should be an absolute commitment to worker safety and looking after workers across the ACT. The problem is that that is the rhetoric we hear from the minister and the government, but they do not live by it, be it in schools, for our nurses or in what they have done to Calvary, teachers, principals and ambos. He said, “At least we have the Secure Local Jobs Code.” How quick were they? It was just like that. They wanted to get rid of Calvary in a heartbeat. Regarding amendments, the Minister for Health said, “This is not important stuff. These are technical amendments.” The minister for workplace safety came in here and said how important the Secure Local Jobs Code is, but last week the Minister for Health said it was just a technical amendment—we can just wave it away because it is a technical amendment.
We will support this motion today. We take this issue seriously, so let us know that you are going to do this. Firstly, do not provide the motion with, literally, minutes of notice. Secondly, live by what you say. Start to look after your nurses, start to think about the consequences of your actions when you do a hostile takeover, start to actually look after your police and give them the resources that they need to do their jobs, support your principals so they do not live in a culture of fear, and do not have a situation where the ambos union and ambos are saying that they live in an environment like a dictatorship.
We will not be lectured by the government, which is the worst boss in this town. Talk to our teachers, talk to our nurses, talk to our ambos, and talk to the police—ask them who is the bad boss and they will give you the straight answer. You will not get a straight answer about worker safety and looking after workers’ conditions from this mob.
MR BRADDOCK (Yerrabi) (10.42): I rise on behalf of the Greens to support this motion. The Greens believe that physical and mental workplace health and safety should underline all aspects of work. This year’s theme for World Day for Safety and Health at Work is “A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and a right at work.” We wholeheartedly agree.
I support the motion. However, it is worth reflecting on some of the gaps in our work health and safety laws and regulatory schemes and how we can improve and continue working to account for them. As any historian will tell you, it is almost always disadvantaged groups that struggle to have their rights at work enforced. Wage theft, such as excessive unpaid hours, is frequently manifested through unsafe work practices and the powerless are disproportionately impacted. People without the authority to speak up for their rights are afraid of losing their jobs. We are talking about young people, migrant workers and most people working in the gig economy.
I have previously called for the establishment of a migrant workers centre here in the ACT, modelled off the success of the youth workers centres. I repeat those calls today.
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