❓ Debate over the impact of Howard government's industrial relations changes on WA public servants, focusing on federal vs. state jurisdiction and potential effects on workers.
AnsweredQoN 336Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
As a supplementary question, does the minister now concede that no Western Australian public servants will be affected by the new federal industrial relations laws, unless they work for a corporatised government body? Mr J.C. KOBELKE
AnswerView source ↗
The Leader of the Opposition has got it wrong again. He does not seem to understand that the Howard government is making changes to two separate areas that are connected. One area is the federal Workplace Relations Act; that is, major changes will be made to the federal industrial relations system. In the second area, the Corporations Act will be used to apply those changes to the states and to take over state jurisdiction. Many people currently employed in the state public sector are employed under federal agreements. Whatever changes are made to the federal industrial relations laws will immediately affect them. Mr M.J. Birney : They will not. You are the dumbest minister on that side of the house. Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER : I call on the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that comment. Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: The Leader of the Opposition has got it wrong again. He does not seem to understand that the Howard government is making changes to two separate areas that are connected. One area is the federal Workplace Relations Act; that is, major changes will be made to the federal industrial relations system. In the second area, the Corporations Act will be used to apply those changes to the states and to take over state jurisdiction. Many people currently employed in the state public sector are employed under federal agreements. Whatever changes are made to the federal industrial relations laws will immediately affect them. Mr M.J. Birney : They will not. You are the dumbest minister on that side of the house. Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER : I call on the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that comment. Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
The Leader of the Opposition has got it wrong again. He does not seem to understand that the Howard government is making changes to two separate areas that are connected. One area is the federal Workplace Relations Act; that is, major changes will be made to the federal industrial relations system. In the second area, the Corporations Act will be used to apply those changes to the states and to take over state jurisdiction. Many people currently employed in the state public sector are employed under federal agreements. Whatever changes are made to the federal industrial relations laws will immediately affect them. Mr M.J. Birney : They will not. You are the dumbest minister on that side of the house. Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER : I call on the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that comment. Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
Mr M.J. Birney : They will not. You are the dumbest minister on that side of the house. Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER : I call on the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that comment. Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: The Leader of the Opposition has got it wrong again. He does not seem to understand that the Howard government is making changes to two separate areas that are connected. One area is the federal Workplace Relations Act; that is, major changes will be made to the federal industrial relations system. In the second area, the Corporations Act will be used to apply those changes to the states and to take over state jurisdiction. Many people currently employed in the state public sector are employed under federal agreements. Whatever changes are made to the federal industrial relations laws will immediately affect them. Mr M.J. Birney : They will not. You are the dumbest minister on that side of the house. Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER : I call on the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that comment. Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
The Leader of the Opposition has got it wrong again. He does not seem to understand that the Howard government is making changes to two separate areas that are connected. One area is the federal Workplace Relations Act; that is, major changes will be made to the federal industrial relations system. In the second area, the Corporations Act will be used to apply those changes to the states and to take over state jurisdiction. Many people currently employed in the state public sector are employed under federal agreements. Whatever changes are made to the federal industrial relations laws will immediately affect them. Mr M.J. Birney : They will not. You are the dumbest minister on that side of the house. Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER : I call on the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that comment. Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
Mr M.J. Birney : They will not. You are the dumbest minister on that side of the house. Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER : I call on the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw that comment. Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
Mr M.J. BIRNEY : I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr J.C. KOBELKE : The Leader of the Opposition has a very interesting attitude: if he thinks something is true, it is true, regardless of all the facts. If he has a misconception of the facts, that is the reality. He is trying to make up the story that if workers are affected by the changes to the industrial relations laws and have to change from the federal jurisdiction to the state jurisdiction but they end up in a similar position, they will not have been affected. They might have gone through hell to get there, but if they can find some way of protecting themselves by returning to the state jurisdiction, the Leader of the Opposition says that they will not have been affected. At the end of the day those workers may be no worse off, but they will have been affected by the industrial relations changes of the Howard government, which will force them to escape the federal system and return to the state system that will guarantee them reasonable standards.
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