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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (27 November) . . Page.. 4886 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

activities and my children participate in union activities. I come from a union family and a working family. I have nothing against workers. We have only to look around this chamber to see people who have worked all their lives. Those people, their families and the people that they represent have worked all their lives.

Members in this place represent people who work every day. Debate on this issue should not be between them and us-a 19th century, antiquated version of bosses versus workers, or union versus capital. That is not what this legislation is about. As Mr Smyth said earlier, it is an issue that concerns the community. We should all be concerned about the fact that people, in whatever walk of life, might needlessly die one day because they go to work. We hear horror stories on a regular basis about negligent activities in the workplace. Regardless of whether workers or supervisors are responsible for those negligent activities or whether bosses encourage them, they should all be prosecuted.

People who do the wrong thing and who put themselves, their workmates, their employees or the people that they supervise at risk, should be prosecuted. We should have legislation in place that allows us to do that. The provisions in this legislation are unnecessary because, for the most part, those provisions are already in place. This legislation will not prevent the phoenix company-the people who disappear and re-form themselves as a $2 company-coming back and doing the same thing.

Those are some of the things that this legislation does not address and that this government has not addressed in the two years that it has been in office. Those are the things that I, as a representative of people who go to work every day, want to see happen in this place. If that does not occur the ministers and the people responsible for these issues would have let down the community.

Most opposition members have alluded to the fact there is a considerable lack of support for this legislation. I am mindful of the fact that people in the gallery, whose views I respect, would have liked to see this legislation enacted. I disagree with them on that issue. A great many people do not support this legislation. The lengthy list that has been compiled encompasses a wide cross-section of the Australian community. Included on that list are: the ACT region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Canberra Business Council, ClubsACT, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Victorian Employers Association, the State Chamber of Commerce of New South Wales, Employers First, Australia Business Ltd, Commerce Queensland, Business SA, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA and the Chamber of Commerce of the Northern Territory.

The list includes also a large number of national business organisations, for example: the Agribusiness Employers Federation, the Australian Soft Drink Association, the Australian Consumer and Speciality Products Association, the Australian Entertainment Industry Association, the Australian Hotels Association, the Australian International Airline Operators Group, the Australian Mines and Metals Association, the Australian Minerals Association, the Australian Paint Manufacturers Federation, the Australian Retailers Association, the Housing Industry Association, the Insurance Council of Australia and Investment and Financial Services Association Ltd.

The list includes the Master Builders Association of Australia, although Ms Gallagher pointed out earlier that the local MBA is less concerned about this legislation. I had

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