Page 312 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 7 March 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (4.52): Mr Speaker, I move:
That the debate be adjourned.
DR FOSKEY: I would like to speak against that motion—
MR SPEAKER: Well, you do not have the opportunity, regrettably, Dr Foskey, because adjournment motions are put without debate.
DR FOSKEY: But I would like to vote against it; we are managing to have a debate—
MR SPEAKER: You will have the opportunity to, because I am going to put the question, now that it has been moved.
DR FOSKEY: Do we not vote on the adjournment?
Mrs Dunne: Yes, we are just about to. If you sit down, we can.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, you do.
Ms MacDonald: Mr Speaker, I know that you need to put the motion procedurally, but we could have Dr Foskey give a speech and then adjourn it.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
DR FOSKEY: It is possible to speak about it without breaching that.
MR SPEAKER: The call for an adjournment is put without debate, so I am going to put the question. The question is that the debate be adjourned.
Question resolved in the negative.
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (4.53): I support that which remains of Mr Gentleman’s motion and I am fortunate in that I still have a speech left after omitting what I believe are the troublesome parts.
The nature of workplaces has changed considerably over the past 25 years and not all of those changes are specifically to do with the Howard government, ABAs or WorkChoices, although the Greens are on the record as opposing them. It is the view of the Greens across Australia that we need to put structures back in place to ensure workplace relations are fair and equitable. In that context, it is important to look closely at the impact the WorkChoices regime is having on workplaces.
This motion is clearly about recent events on Canberra building sites and particularly reflects on some of the practices and procedures pursued by Thiess, a major Australian construction company very evident around Canberra. Consequently, when issues arise such as the one referred to in this motion we need to look at them very carefully.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .