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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 3 Hansard (7 March) . . Page.. 734 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

there anyway, and those who say, "Gee, I've got nowhere else to go; I think I will hang on for a while and get some training," are poked out in the departure lounge and more or less left to their own resources in the hope that they will get sick of it in the end and go. That is what happens to them.

My motion is very clear. This is not going to happen with these forestry workers. If any one of them says that they do not want to go, you are going to find them a job. That is the intention of my motion: you are going to find them a job. Listen up, because that is what this motion is about. It is about telling you that if these workers who have been with you for periods in excess of 30 years say that they do not want to retire yet, bearing in mind that some of them are waiting for the age pension because of very low superannuation contributions and benefits, you are going to find them a job and make sure that they are not disadvantaged.

Let us dwell for a moment on the sort of money that these fellows earn. One of the letters I got indicates that the men are on less than $30,000 per annum. A good amount of that money is made up of overtime and allowances when they are on fire watch, if you like to call it that, during the bushfire season. I am also saying to you that you should take that into account too. I do not want to see these workers disadvantaged because they no longer have anything to do with the provision of bushfire services in the ACT.

Each year these people receive overtime and allowances for providing fire watching services in vehicles, in stations, in towers and so on throughout the ACT when the various levels of fire alert are posted in the bushfire season. What I am saying to you is that these people are not to be starved out of their jobs and they are not to be forced to go if they do not want to go. I accept that some of them will say, "We have had enough of these bastards; we want to get out." I cannot blame them for saying that. But some of them will say, "I just cannot go, because it would damage my and my family's future prospects to do so."

Mr Speaker, this is a straightforward motion which deals with a human problem created by government incompetence. For six years the government has not been able to deal with this issue, and then all of a sudden it springs these redundancies on the workers and says, "You are on your way; get on your bike." That cannot and will not be tolerated, I am sure, by this Assembly. It is an intolerable situation to put workers in and the government must be supportive of moves to protect the interests of these workers. I will not tolerate the government standing up and saying, "We will put them through a process. We will give them a little bit of training and prepare them for another job," if it sticks them out in a departure lounge and says that they will be all right there.

They will not be all right unless this motion is passed and these workers are guaranteed jobs and work. I am saying to members that this motion guarantees them a job. This motion is not something that the government can discard. It guarantees them a job and it requires the government to look after their interests. They have given the government good and loyal service and I think that the government should respond likewise. The appalling announcement by Mr Moore in relation to Totalcare workers only emphasises the need to do something to protect these people. I urge members to support this motion.

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