Page 2731 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 20 October 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
It is something that has occurred overseas in the past. It occurs in places like the Philippines where millions upon millions of people live below the poverty line by virtue of industrial relations policies which are very similar to those which the Liberals are proposing. They can chuckle and laugh, but workers are horrified - - -
Mr Kaine: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I would suggest that the Minister's attention should be drawn to the standing orders which require that he not make ministerial statements and that his answers be brief and concise. He has already made a very long political statement. I would suggest that you ask him to terminate it.
MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you for your advice, Mr Kaine. I am sure that the Minister will soon be concluding his answer.
Mr Kaine: You are not concerned about standing orders?
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Kaine, I ask you to withdraw that.
Mr Kaine: Madam Speaker, I asked you to make a ruling and you declined.
MADAM SPEAKER: I ask you to withdraw your comment that I am not concerned about standing orders.
Mr Kaine: I withdraw it, but I would suggest that you ask him to terminate his zealous speech.
MADAM SPEAKER: I took your advice, Mr Kaine. There was no point of order. It was advice. I accepted your advice and gave it to Mr Berry.
Mr Kaine: Why don't you get on with it, Minister, and sit down?
MR BERRY: Madam Speaker, the interjections will not cover up the horror that most workers will feel about the Liberals' industrial relations policy. Nobody is fooled by the rhetoric. It is finely tuned rhetoric, but nobody is fooled by it because they know and understand that the aim of the Liberal Party and these Liberals opposite is to reduce wages and working conditions and the living standards for all Australian people. There is no question about it; there will be a system of industrial relations in this country which will result in many people being much poorer than they are today, and this will be particularly relevant in the ACT. Madam Speaker, this is something where we are poles apart. We are poles apart on this issue. There is one thing that we can be grateful for: Now Australian workers will see the wide gap between themselves and people like the Liberal Party and the policies that they propose.
Consumer Affairs Seminars
MR STEVENSON: My question is to Mr Connolly and concerns public courses being run by the ACT Consumer Affairs Bureau. There are four such courses being run, I believe, next week during Business Week. What is the total annual expenditure for seminars provided to the public free by the Consumer Affairs Bureau? How well attended have such seminars been in the past? How are results evaluated, and will they be evaluated for the coming seminars?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .