Silicosis

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:20): Has the government included in their discussions or contemplated broadening the scope of the dust diseases regulatory regime to ensure that it extends to silicosis if and as required in the future?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (15:21): I am certainly at this stage taking advice from all those agencies on the particular task group, but that has not been a specific recommendation as yet that has come through. There is obviously a response at the national level. We have been in touch with other ministers with similar responsibilities in other jurisdictions and other stakeholder groups. We certainly have an open mind in relation to a coordinated national response to this.

We have an example that we are aware of of a worker who worked in another state for a number of years and who then moved to another state or another jurisdiction and that particular worker may, for example, be impacted by silicosis. So there is a national requirement, in our view, to try to address this important issue. We have an open mind in relation to suggested not necessarily remedies but suggested actions that the governments of Australia might be prepared to take, but at this stage we have made no firm decision in relation to that particular issue.