Industrial Relations

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:14): Supplementary: will the minister undertake to bring back the public expenditure made to silence the voices of paramedics and firefighters under the previous regime?

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Sorry, what was the first part?

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Will you undertake to bring back the public expense—the money spent—both removing the chalk and the signs on ambulances and outside fire stations?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for her question. As I understand it: will I seek to see if I can find what the dollar figure is that the former government spent trying to silence people? I am happy to do that. I am very happy to do that, and if I can find it I certainly will bring it back to this chamber.

The, I suspect, hundreds of thousands of dollars that the former government under the—the Hon. Rob Lucas Liberal government of the last four years spent trying to silence public sector workers rather than putting that money into frontline services. I think that would be a very worthwhile exercise to try to find out, and I know the honourable Leader of the Opposition, part of the former Liberal government who chose and tried so much to silence workers in this state.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!