❓ Mr. Dean questions the accuracy of an advertisement by Kevin Reynolds regarding the government's workers compensation reforms. Mr. Kobelke defends the reforms, highlighting improvements for injured workers and cost containment, while criticizing the advertisement's claims.
AnsweredQoN 183Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Can the minister comment on the accuracy of the full-page advertisement on the Government’s workers compensation reform proposals on page 63 of The West Australian on 3 April 2004 in the name of Kevin Reynolds? Mr J.C. KOBELKE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It gives me the opportunity to put the record straight. The workers compensation system that we inherited from the previous Government was a very poor one. We made a clear commitment to improve it, to make sure that it contained costs, that costs did not blow out to 3.4 per cent as we saw under the previous Government, and that within those contained costs the money should go to the benefit of injured workers, whose current benefits are well below the standards that exist in other jurisdictions across Australia. That package is nearly complete and I trust I will have the privilege in the near future of introducing it into the House. We have had very thorough consultation with all the stakeholders, and the feedback from people who know the system and who have worked in it for decades is that the package of improvements that we will bring forward is the best they have ever seen for improving benefits to injured workers in Western Australia. It is unfortunate that some of those stakeholders have made claims regarding this package that are simply untrue. I will refer to two issues in the advertisement in The West Australian . Firstly, it states - · It’s proposed that injured workers only get full pay for up to 13 weeks after being injured. That is correct. Currently it is four weeks. Under our proposal they will get 13 weeks. The article then states - It then drops to 85%. It does for a very small percentage, but for most it does not. This article clearly misrepresents the Government’s proposal. It continues - · Seriously injured workers will be WORSE OFF under the proposed workers’ comp reforms. That is clearly wrong. Our proposals will increase the benefit to injured workers in the first year to something in the order of $130 million, and about $60 million in the years after that - a massive improvement - and will still keep premiums within the 2.4 to 2.7 per cent band. We will deliver both for employers and for injured workers. We hope people will look at the detail of this very thorough package and not go misrepresenting it for whatever purpose. In terms of the benefits to the working people of Western Australia, the unemployment figures out today again show another drop in unemployment in Western Australia - under 5.5 per cent, which is clearly below the national figure, which again reflects the better benefits being received by the men and women of this State under a Gallop Government. The monthly unemployment figure during the term of the Gallop Government is 6.3 per cent. Under the last Liberal Government the average unemployment figure on a monthly basis was 7.3 per cent. Over the whole time of both Governments, we are nearly a full percentage point better on unemployment, because the Gallop Government is delivering for our working men and women. When it comes to health and safety, workers compensation, wages, employment and unemployment, the Gallop Government is streets ahead of the Liberal Opposition.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. It gives me the opportunity to put the record straight. The workers compensation system that we inherited from the previous Government was a very poor one. We made a clear commitment to improve it, to make sure that it contained costs, that costs did not blow out to 3.4 per cent as we saw under the previous Government, and that within those contained costs the money should go to the benefit of injured workers, whose current benefits are well below the standards that exist in other jurisdictions across Australia. That package is nearly complete and I trust I will have the privilege in the near future of introducing it into the House. We have had very thorough consultation with all the stakeholders, and the feedback from people who know the system and who have worked in it for decades is that the package of improvements that we will bring forward is the best they have ever seen for improving benefits to injured workers in Western Australia. It is unfortunate that some of those stakeholders have made claims regarding this package that are simply untrue. I will refer to two issues in the advertisement in The West Australian . Firstly, it states - · It’s proposed that injured workers only get full pay for up to 13 weeks after being injured. That is correct. Currently it is four weeks. Under our proposal they will get 13 weeks. The article then states - It then drops to 85%. It does for a very small percentage, but for most it does not. This article clearly misrepresents the Government’s proposal. It continues - · Seriously injured workers will be WORSE OFF under the proposed workers’ comp reforms. That is clearly wrong. Our proposals will increase the benefit to injured workers in the first year to something in the order of $130 million, and about $60 million in the years after that - a massive improvement - and will still keep premiums within the 2.4 to 2.7 per cent band. We will deliver both for employers and for injured workers. We hope people will look at the detail of this very thorough package and not go misrepresenting it for whatever purpose. In terms of the benefits to the working people of Western Australia, the unemployment figures out today again show another drop in unemployment in Western Australia - under 5.5 per cent, which is clearly below the national figure, which again reflects the better benefits being received by the men and women of this State under a Gallop Government. The monthly unemployment figure during the term of the Gallop Government is 6.3 per cent. Under the last Liberal Government the average unemployment figure on a monthly basis was 7.3 per cent. Over the whole time of both Governments, we are nearly a full percentage point better on unemployment, because the Gallop Government is delivering for our working men and women. When it comes to health and safety, workers compensation, wages, employment and unemployment, the Gallop Government is streets ahead of the Liberal Opposition.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It gives me the opportunity to put the record straight. The workers compensation system that we inherited from the previous Government was a very poor one. We made a clear commitment to improve it, to make sure that it contained costs, that costs did not blow out to 3.4 per cent as we saw under the previous Government, and that within those contained costs the money should go to the benefit of injured workers, whose current benefits are well below the standards that exist in other jurisdictions across Australia. That package is nearly complete and I trust I will have the privilege in the near future of introducing it into the House. We have had very thorough consultation with all the stakeholders, and the feedback from people who know the system and who have worked in it for decades is that the package of improvements that we will bring forward is the best they have ever seen for improving benefits to injured workers in Western Australia. It is unfortunate that some of those stakeholders have made claims regarding this package that are simply untrue. I will refer to two issues in the advertisement in The West Australian . Firstly, it states - · It’s proposed that injured workers only get full pay for up to 13 weeks after being injured. That is correct. Currently it is four weeks. Under our proposal they will get 13 weeks. The article then states - It then drops to 85%. It does for a very small percentage, but for most it does not. This article clearly misrepresents the Government’s proposal. It continues - · Seriously injured workers will be WORSE OFF under the proposed workers’ comp reforms. That is clearly wrong. Our proposals will increase the benefit to injured workers in the first year to something in the order of $130 million, and about $60 million in the years after that - a massive improvement - and will still keep premiums within the 2.4 to 2.7 per cent band. We will deliver both for employers and for injured workers. We hope people will look at the detail of this very thorough package and not go misrepresenting it for whatever purpose. In terms of the benefits to the working people of Western Australia, the unemployment figures out today again show another drop in unemployment in Western Australia - under 5.5 per cent, which is clearly below the national figure, which again reflects the better benefits being received by the men and women of this State under a Gallop Government. The monthly unemployment figure during the term of the Gallop Government is 6.3 per cent. Under the last Liberal Government the average unemployment figure on a monthly basis was 7.3 per cent. Over the whole time of both Governments, we are nearly a full percentage point better on unemployment, because the Gallop Government is delivering for our working men and women. When it comes to health and safety, workers compensation, wages, employment and unemployment, the Gallop Government is streets ahead of the Liberal Opposition.
In terms of the benefits to the working people of Western Australia, the unemployment figures out today again show another drop in unemployment in Western Australia - under 5.5 per cent, which is clearly below the national figure, which again reflects the better benefits being received by the men and women of this State under a Gallop Government. The monthly unemployment figure during the term of the Gallop Government is 6.3 per cent. Under the last Liberal Government the average unemployment figure on a monthly basis was 7.3 per cent. Over the whole time of both Governments, we are nearly a full percentage point better on unemployment, because the Gallop Government is delivering for our working men and women. When it comes to health and safety, workers compensation, wages, employment and unemployment, the Gallop Government is streets ahead of the Liberal Opposition.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. It gives me the opportunity to put the record straight. The workers compensation system that we inherited from the previous Government was a very poor one. We made a clear commitment to improve it, to make sure that it contained costs, that costs did not blow out to 3.4 per cent as we saw under the previous Government, and that within those contained costs the money should go to the benefit of injured workers, whose current benefits are well below the standards that exist in other jurisdictions across Australia. That package is nearly complete and I trust I will have the privilege in the near future of introducing it into the House. We have had very thorough consultation with all the stakeholders, and the feedback from people who know the system and who have worked in it for decades is that the package of improvements that we will bring forward is the best they have ever seen for improving benefits to injured workers in Western Australia. It is unfortunate that some of those stakeholders have made claims regarding this package that are simply untrue. I will refer to two issues in the advertisement in The West Australian . Firstly, it states - · It’s proposed that injured workers only get full pay for up to 13 weeks after being injured. That is correct. Currently it is four weeks. Under our proposal they will get 13 weeks. The article then states - It then drops to 85%. It does for a very small percentage, but for most it does not. This article clearly misrepresents the Government’s proposal. It continues - · Seriously injured workers will be WORSE OFF under the proposed workers’ comp reforms. That is clearly wrong. Our proposals will increase the benefit to injured workers in the first year to something in the order of $130 million, and about $60 million in the years after that - a massive improvement - and will still keep premiums within the 2.4 to 2.7 per cent band. We will deliver both for employers and for injured workers. We hope people will look at the detail of this very thorough package and not go misrepresenting it for whatever purpose. In terms of the benefits to the working people of Western Australia, the unemployment figures out today again show another drop in unemployment in Western Australia - under 5.5 per cent, which is clearly below the national figure, which again reflects the better benefits being received by the men and women of this State under a Gallop Government. The monthly unemployment figure during the term of the Gallop Government is 6.3 per cent. Under the last Liberal Government the average unemployment figure on a monthly basis was 7.3 per cent. Over the whole time of both Governments, we are nearly a full percentage point better on unemployment, because the Gallop Government is delivering for our working men and women. When it comes to health and safety, workers compensation, wages, employment and unemployment, the Gallop Government is streets ahead of the Liberal Opposition.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. It gives me the opportunity to put the record straight. The workers compensation system that we inherited from the previous Government was a very poor one. We made a clear commitment to improve it, to make sure that it contained costs, that costs did not blow out to 3.4 per cent as we saw under the previous Government, and that within those contained costs the money should go to the benefit of injured workers, whose current benefits are well below the standards that exist in other jurisdictions across Australia. That package is nearly complete and I trust I will have the privilege in the near future of introducing it into the House. We have had very thorough consultation with all the stakeholders, and the feedback from people who know the system and who have worked in it for decades is that the package of improvements that we will bring forward is the best they have ever seen for improving benefits to injured workers in Western Australia. It is unfortunate that some of those stakeholders have made claims regarding this package that are simply untrue. I will refer to two issues in the advertisement in The West Australian . Firstly, it states - · It’s proposed that injured workers only get full pay for up to 13 weeks after being injured. That is correct. Currently it is four weeks. Under our proposal they will get 13 weeks. The article then states - It then drops to 85%. It does for a very small percentage, but for most it does not. This article clearly misrepresents the Government’s proposal. It continues - · Seriously injured workers will be WORSE OFF under the proposed workers’ comp reforms. That is clearly wrong. Our proposals will increase the benefit to injured workers in the first year to something in the order of $130 million, and about $60 million in the years after that - a massive improvement - and will still keep premiums within the 2.4 to 2.7 per cent band. We will deliver both for employers and for injured workers. We hope people will look at the detail of this very thorough package and not go misrepresenting it for whatever purpose. In terms of the benefits to the working people of Western Australia, the unemployment figures out today again show another drop in unemployment in Western Australia - under 5.5 per cent, which is clearly below the national figure, which again reflects the better benefits being received by the men and women of this State under a Gallop Government. The monthly unemployment figure during the term of the Gallop Government is 6.3 per cent. Under the last Liberal Government the average unemployment figure on a monthly basis was 7.3 per cent. Over the whole time of both Governments, we are nearly a full percentage point better on unemployment, because the Gallop Government is delivering for our working men and women. When it comes to health and safety, workers compensation, wages, employment and unemployment, the Gallop Government is streets ahead of the Liberal Opposition.
In terms of the benefits to the working people of Western Australia, the unemployment figures out today again show another drop in unemployment in Western Australia - under 5.5 per cent, which is clearly below the national figure, which again reflects the better benefits being received by the men and women of this State under a Gallop Government. The monthly unemployment figure during the term of the Gallop Government is 6.3 per cent. Under the last Liberal Government the average unemployment figure on a monthly basis was 7.3 per cent. Over the whole time of both Governments, we are nearly a full percentage point better on unemployment, because the Gallop Government is delivering for our working men and women. When it comes to health and safety, workers compensation, wages, employment and unemployment, the Gallop Government is streets ahead of the Liberal Opposition.
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