❓ Opposition questions the Premier about docked pay for protesting school support workers, particularly education assistants. The Premier acknowledges their work, addresses concerns about salary docking, and defends the government's wage moderation policy.
AnsweredQoN 862Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SCHOOL SUPPORT WORKERS — WAGE CLAIM CAMPAIGN — PAY DOCKED
I would like to acknowledge those representatives of workers in the gallery who joined more than 1 000 workers at a protest rally today. I note that this week many education assistants, gardeners and cleaners will have their pay docked by up to 90 per cent for protesting against the government’s miserable 2.5 per cent pay increase offer. (1) Why is the Premier taking such mean-spirited action and docking the pay of some of the state’s most low-paid workers? (2) Is it acceptable to the Premier that special needs education assistants who earn $760 a week will this week be sent home with just $76 in their pay packets to support their families? (3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT
I would like to acknowledge those representatives of workers in the gallery who joined more than 1 000 workers at a protest rally today. I note that this week many education assistants, gardeners and cleaners will have their pay docked by up to 90 per cent for protesting against the government’s miserable 2.5 per cent pay increase offer. (1) Why is the Premier taking such mean-spirited action and docking the pay of some of the state’s most low-paid workers? (2) Is it acceptable to the Premier that special needs education assistants who earn $760 a week will this week be sent home with just $76 in their pay packets to support their families? (3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(1) Why is the Premier taking such mean-spirited action and docking the pay of some of the state’s most low-paid workers? (2) Is it acceptable to the Premier that special needs education assistants who earn $760 a week will this week be sent home with just $76 in their pay packets to support their families? (3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(2) Is it acceptable to the Premier that special needs education assistants who earn $760 a week will this week be sent home with just $76 in their pay packets to support their families? (3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(1) Why is the Premier taking such mean-spirited action and docking the pay of some of the state’s most low-paid workers? (2) Is it acceptable to the Premier that special needs education assistants who earn $760 a week will this week be sent home with just $76 in their pay packets to support their families? (3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(2) Is it acceptable to the Premier that special needs education assistants who earn $760 a week will this week be sent home with just $76 in their pay packets to support their families? (3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(3) Will the Premier now accept the advice of the member for Riverton, who has advocated for a more generous pay increase of 4.4 per cent? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: (1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
(1)-(3) Education assistants, who do a variety of tasks around our schools, particularly caring for children with disabilities, do a great job. It is vital to give those children some opportunity to succeed through school. Education assistants are a great source of support for parents. I recognise them and thank them for the work they do. I also recognise that they are relatively low-paid in terms of salaries within the public sector. In my years as a member of Parliament, I have visited numerous special education schools. I have seen the work they do, and I have seen the health conditions of many of the children. It is an incredibly demanding role. I met a large group of those employees outside the Governor Stirling Tower, and I spoke for some time to a number of them. There were two issues in my mind, as I saw it. The first is the issue that the Leader of the Opposition has raised. A number of people, mainly women, made the point to me that they had refused to work for a period of time and their salaries had been docked. They said to me that their understanding was that their salary had been stopped. In other words, if they stopped work for an hour, it was not a matter of an hour being docked; the salary had actually been somehow put on hold. I promised them that I would undertake to look at that. That did not seem to me to be a reasonable situation if it was true. My office has followed up with the Minister for Commerce and the Department of Education in the past hour to make sure that that is not the case. I would not want anyone to think that they will be deprived of their weekly salary if they stop work for an hour, or whatever it might be. Salaries may be docked, but they will not be stopped. Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr P.B. Watson interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : Order! Member for Albany! Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : No-one can cope with the member for Albany. The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The second issue is the wage offer. This government has a policy of wage moderation. I recognise that, and I also recognise that there have been some significant increases in the cost of living, not the least of which is electricity charges. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : I think all of us in this place are interested in the answer, because I would be surprised if any of us were not aware of the issues. I would like to hear the answer without interruption. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that an offer of two and a half per cent is a small increase for people already on low wages. I urged the people to whom I spoke to accept that, and we would continue to discuss with them, in good faith, their salary and conditions of employment. Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr M.P. Murray : You are absolutely joking! The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : Member for Collie-Preston, I said that I wanted to hear the rest of the answer without interference or interjection. I call you formally for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I recognise that that is a small pay increase. Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected. The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
The SPEAKER : I would like question time to be able to run its full length today. I formally call the member for Midland for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : The interjection from the member for Midland makes a fair point. People in senior levels of the public service and chief executive officers of statutory trading organisations have received unacceptably high increases. The Treasurer and Minister for Commerce has commented on that, and I have commented on it. Almost without exception those increases result from contracts, incentives and bonuses put in place by the Labor government. They are existing contracts, and I agree with the member for Midland that they are totally inappropriate when we consider the salaries of a group of workers such as education assistants. I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
I will conclude by repeating that the government has taken measures to reassure those employees that while they may see some docking of their salaries, their salaries will not be stopped, and I hope that they can accept this initial modest offer and that we can sit down and discuss the issue. I have had long experience as a minister, and now as Premier, in negotiating public sector wages, and I will stand on my record for being fair.
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