Mr. Kelly questions the Minister for Water regarding the perceived lack of compassion in Water Corporation job losses following an asset sale. The Minister defends the decision as compassionate, citing potential for continued employment under new ownership.

AnsweredQoN 104Legislative Assembly
Asked
26 February 2015
Portfolio
Water

QuestionView source ↗

WATER CORPORATION — ASSET SALE
104. Mr D.J. KELLY to the
Minister for Water:
I have a supplementary question. Does the minister now regret
describing on radio the 150 job losses as a compassionate decision, when all
the staff I speak to talk about it as a kick in the guts?

AnswerView source ↗

The member is referring to an interview I did about this
matter, I think, at the beginning of this year or last year.
Mr
D.J. Kelly : No; it was two weeks ago.
Ms
M.J. DAVIES : It was not two weeks ago.
It is a compassionate decision by
the Water Corporation, because of the way it is putting this out to the market.
Some people who currently work for the Water Corporation may have a small
number of jobs to do for the immediate future because, as I have said, we are
moving from a significant investment in construction to one of operation and
maintenance.
Mr
D.J. Kelly interjected.
Ms
M.J. DAVIES : That is right; absolutely. If it packaged it up into a process
whereby somebody takes on that business, they will have the opportunity to
continue to work for longer than they would have at the Water Corporation. I
think that is compassionate. It is providing them with ongoing job security.
Some people will come out of this process without a job. The Water Corporation
is behaving entirely appropriately and is managing its employees very
compassionately. I know it is, and the member would be aware of it because
unions have been involved in this process.

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