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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-01 Daily Xml
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INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LABOUR INSPECTION

Ms SIMMONS (Morialta) (15:20): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. What were the outcomes of the recent International Association of Labour Inspection Conference held in Adelaide?

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: I have a point of order, sir. That matter is on the website as a result of the conference. Given your rulings in previous weeks of sitting, that question is out of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! I think we have canvassed, if not laboured, this point many times. The joke is running a bit thin, member of Davenport. I say for the third, fourth or fifth time that I reversed my original ruling on the question from the member for MacKillop. It was out of order on other grounds, not on the grounds of that information being available.

I want to make it absolutely clear to the member for Davenport so that there can be no confusion whatsoever in his mind because, obviously, he has difficulty grappling with this point. There is a big difference between asking a minister a question which has a specific answer and for information which is specifically available alternatively. The information for which the member for MacKillop was asking, at least initially, as I understood it, was about specific amounts of money received by the Labor Party as donations. Questions of that nature are out of order because they are quite specific. They are asking for specific information that is otherwise easily obtainable by other people.

In relation to a question of a minister asking for information about things going on in their portfolio, there may be components of that minister's answer which may be available by other means, but the chair cannot pre-empt what the minister will say. There may be other information which the minister will provide and which is not publicly available.

I make it quite clear to all members, in particular the member for Davenport, that I am getting a bit tired of this point of order. I took it a couple of times with good humour, but I think the joke has now run a bit thin. There is a big difference between asking for information for which there is a specific answer, for example, specific amounts of money donated that is otherwise disclosed, and information of a general character, components of which might be available. There is no point of order.

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Finance, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:23): In mid March I had the pleasure of welcoming 200 delegates from approximately 40 nations to Adelaide for the International Association of Labour Inspection Conference.

IALI is the global professional association for labour inspection. The association works in close partnership with the International Labour Organisation to promote safe and decent work worldwide and to strengthen and modernise labour inspection. Labour inspectorates from over 100 countries covering every continent are members of IALI. This was the first time the IALI conference was held in the Pacific region.

Hosted by IALI and SafeWork SA, the conference was staged in partnership with the ILO and all other OH&S authorities across Australia and New Zealand. IALI conferences are designed to facilitate the sharing of information about best practice and to provide a forum to address challenges and foster cooperative arrangements between labour inspection authorities. The conference theme was towards healthy, safe and decent work through 'alliances, ethics and influence'—principles and strategies to build the foundation for strong and effective labour inspection across the world.

The conference achieved an ambitious agenda that provided delegates with the opportunity to hear from national and international experts. A range of forums also facilitated information-sharing on occupational health and safety, industrial relations, employment and labour inspection developments across continents.

One of the most successful outcomes of the conference was the commitment by all Australian jurisdictions to implement a new global code of integrity for labour inspectorates. The code sets out ethical and professional standards of conduct, as well as expected behaviours for labour inspectors and all employees who work in the inspectorate.

The success of this international gathering has again demonstrated that South Australia is a centre of excellence for such conferences, and I extend my congratulations to SafeWork SA for its great organisational work.

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