Page 913 - Week 03 - Thursday, 30 March 2006
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relationships that are recognised by ACT laws—but, as usual, there was unbelievable opposition to allowing all of our community to have the same rights. Not only have the local Liberal Party voiced their opposition to the introduction of this bill, but also today we heard federal attorney, Phillip Ruddock, speak out about his opposition to the bill and what his government will do to make the ACT work to dissolve it. That is appalling, but that is what we have come to expect from the Liberal Party.
Let’s look at the defence they are putting up to protect their federal colleagues on work choices. Today, Mrs Burke moved a motion to suspend the working of the select committee of which both she and I are members. Thankfully, the motion has not passed as yet. In our opposition to Mrs Burke’s motion, I will speak about the work that the committee will do on discovering the effects of the radical IR changes on families in the ACT. These changes have already affected at least one family in the ACT.
As many of you are aware, the federal government’s work choices legislation came into effect on Monday, 27 March. The very next day—Tuesday, 28 March—Mr Tim Bollard was given a letter from his employee, Boral, ceasing his employment. Yes, after three years of full-time employment, Mr Tim Bollard was sacked. As many of you can imagine, this news crippled Mr Bollard. He had been a reliable employee who, even after a work-related injury, had been present at work every single day.
Tim Bollard went home that night and explained to his wife and five children that he would no longer be able to support them, as he was unemployed. Tim tried to sleep that night but, as he still had to find a way of making a living and supporting his family, that became increasingly difficult. He got up and started making placards and headed into Boral to voice his concerns to the management. By 6.00 am, many of Tim’s workmates had arrived to support him in his objection to being made redundant.
It was not long before all of Canberra had heard about the battle Tim Bollard was fighting and the support he was receiving from his mates in the workplace. He had worked at Boral for three years and for two of those years he had worked in the job that he was doing the day he was sacked. The reason Tim Bollard’s employer gave as to why he was terminating Tim’s employment was that he was unfit to perform his duties and was therefore no longer needed in the workplace—unfit to perform the duties that Tim had been doing on a daily basis over the past two years. What a load of rubbish! Boral finally had an excuse to sack Mr Bollard: the federal government’s work choices legislation.
Thankfully, with help from Mr Bollard’s union, the Transport Workers Union, and the support of his work colleagues, he was reinstated on a temporary basis until 3.00 pm this afternoon. At that time, both Boral and Tim Bollard were to attend a meeting to discuss whether Tim Bollard would remain employed. I am here to report that Tim Bollard has been reinstated as an employee of Boral, with the same rate of pay and the same conditions as he was previously receiving.
This reinstatement was largely because of the support that Tim received from his union—yes, Mr Mulcahy, who is not here at the moment, his union; the union that was there to support Mr Bollard and work with him to receive the best possible outcome against such atrocious industrial relations policies; the union that the Liberal Party both federally and locally are opposed to; the union that is there to protect the rights of
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