PUBLIC SECTOR BILL

Final Stages

Consideration in committee of the House of Assembly’s message.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I move:

That amendment No. 1 be agreed to with the amendment made by the House of Assembly.

I am pleased to say that, in the few weeks since this bill left the chamber, there have been very productive discussions between the government and the opposition, which has led to an agreed position about this important legislation. The bill will give us a high performing public sector, and it is based on the strong Labor Party principle that we value our public sector very much. We want to entrench that value by setting out right up front in the bill the principles and the standards to which the public sector should be committed. Public sector workers perform an extraordinary job for South Australia, and we believe they will see this legislation as positive reinforcement of the work they do.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I indicate that the opposition supports the motion. I would also like to make the comment that yesterday we saw the government announce the reform agenda for the Legislative Council. The government said that one of the motivating reasons for the reform is that the Legislative Council blocks legislation and frustrates the government. However, here we see an example of where the Legislative Council has made some well-considered amendments. Then, the appropriate thing happened, and the bill went back to the House of Assembly and then, as the minister said, there were good and fruitful negotiations between the government, the opposition, key stakeholders and the minor parties. We now have an outcome that everyone is comfortable with. I think it is a great example of democracy at work.

I will not become sidetracked by the issue of Legislative Council reform, because we are not debating that here today; however, I think this is an example of how a democracy works and works well. We are back here today to make some minor changes, and then all parties will be happy.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: The Greens are pleased to see that the government has seen sense and has chosen to go down the path of negotiation and discussion, which path is nearly always preferable to deadlocks, which the government has handled very poorly in the short time I have been in this place. I know that not all the parties are 100 per cent happy with the outcome, but that is the nature of negotiation and compromise.

We spent a great deal of time in this chamber on these amendments. I think we genuinely put forward some sensible options, and some of these have been refined even further. I am pleased that we will shortly see this bill off the Notice Paper and that we can move on to other issues, and in this case that is due to the good sense the government had to negotiate with the key stakeholders.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: Having listened to the deliberations and a lot of effort by members of parliament and others over several weeks, it appears to me that common sense will now prevail and that there will be a fairer and more equitable approach to those people who work so hard for us in the public sector, and for that reason we will be supporting the further proceedings to complete this legislation.

Motion carried.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I move:

That the council do not assist on amendment No. 15 and agrees to the alternative amendment of the House of Assembly in lieu thereof.

Motion carried.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I move:

That the council do not assist on its amendments Nos 2, 3, 9, 10 and 12.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I indicate that we will be supporting the government, but I want to put on the record and thank Stephen Griffiths, the new Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly, who has worked closely with the minister's office and the PSA. I know that it has had extensive discussions with the shadow minister who had carriage of this, and I put on record my and the Liberal Party's appreciation of his work.

Motion carried.