House of Assembly: Thursday, July 06, 2023

Contents

Question Time

Incolink

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier made it clear to John Setka and the CFMEU that his Incolink scheme is not welcomed by the South Australian government—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —nor South Australian construction industry employers—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —and, if not, why not?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members to my left and right! The deputy leader might repeat the question.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Thank you, sir. My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier made it clear to John Setka and the CFMEU that his Incolink scheme is not welcomed by the South Australian government nor construction industry employers and, if not, why not?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:07): I haven't spoken to John Setka ever.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: And the CFMEU?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: No, I haven't spoken to the CFMEU either. There have been representations from the CFMEU to the government, as you would reasonably expect, but not exclusively from the CFMEU. I think the local branch secretary of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), John Adley, has also been in touch with me. He is currently a director on the BIRST scheme. They have been in touch with us, as we have been in touch with the Master Builders Association, and the government's position remains as it had been ever since the Deputy Leader of the Opposition asked about this last.

We are keen to work with industry to make sure we get the right outcome here. We think there should be union representation on a redundancy scheme that's about protecting workers' interests. We think that both the Incolink model and the BIRST model, where there is collaboration between the MBA and the relevant building trade unions—CFMEU, ETU; I think there may be other unions on both Incolink and BIRST—is the right model.

In terms of the government, the only reservation the government has had in regard to some of the issues that have been raised and publicly aerated around Incolink speaks to the concern that we might have a situation where there isn't South Australian representation as part of that. Incolink as it currently stands, I am advised, is a strictly Victorian membership on the board, whereas BIRST is a strictly South Australian membership on the board.

If there is any substantial readjustment of the arrangement or a takeover of BIRST by Incolink, we would like to see an outcome where South Australians are represented as part of that process. To come back to the direct question from the Leader of the Opposition, I personally haven't spoken to either John Setka, to the best of my recollection, or a CFMEU official regarding this matter.