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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4220 ..

MS MacDONALD (continuing):

portable long service leave schemes for the construction industry around the country, it would have seen that they are all operating well. Most of the employers are actually finding that they aid their business because they do not have to think about them too much. In fact, in some cases they do not have to contribute that much to the schemes any more. So what does the Cole royal commission do? It attacks them and wants to get rid of them.

Since the introduction of portable long service leave in the ACT building and construction industry, the board has steadily built up a substantial portfolio which now has total assets of over $42 million and net assets of over $22 million. Since the scheme was created by the Fraser government in 1981, contributions required by employers have fallen from 2 per cent of wages to 1 per cent. Currently, there are over 7,000 ACT building and construction workers registered with the board. That is fantastic. We need more of that. (Further extension of time, by leave, granted.) I will be short. The scheme protects the entitlements of construction workers by ensuring that they can still receive their entitlements if their employer goes out of business.

I commend this motion to the house. While there are those who, undoubtedly, will get up and detract from the motion and say that it is unaffordable, it is about an evolutionary change. It is one that we need to look towards if we want to encourage people to work in the ACT.

I commend the motion to the Assembly.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, Minister for Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations) (11.37): The government certainly welcomes the motion forward by Ms MacDonald this morning.

Mr Humphries: It is a government motion. What are you talking about?

MR CORBELL: No, it is a private members business motion, Mr Humphries.

Mr Humphries: Of course, that's right! How silly of me!

MR CORBELL: We have continued antagonism from Mr Humphries on this issue, but what would you expect from the Liberal Party. The ACT Long Service Leave Act provides that all workers in the ACT private sector have the same entitlement to long service leave. Workers are entitled to just over two months paid leave after 10 years service with the same employer. After that, workers get an additional two months paid leave for every five years service they complete with the employer.

This leave recognises the value that long-serving employees bring to an employer's business. Some disparities are caused by the fact that workers can negotiate improved long service leave benefits under certified agreements. However, the ACT government has no power to override the contents of these agreements as they are made under federal law.

There are three industries that have special long service leave arrangements in the ACT. Firstly, ACT public servants have more generous long service leave entitlements that were initially inherited from the Commonwealth. Public servants are entitled to 12 weeks

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