House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-11-03 Daily Xml

Contents

Construction Industry

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is again to the Premier. Does the Premier support a state-based building construction commission?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:11): Again, what I support is good industrial relations throughout the land in every industry across the state. What we will do is make sure that relevant state government agencies that have oversight of this domain are acting and resourced accordingly. What the Leader of the Opposition I am sure well appreciates is that ever since the WorkChoices legislation the state legislature, or state governments, lost almost entirely all their powers when it comes to the regulation of the industrial relations policy field—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Again, the member for Unley makes interjections, sir, and I am still regretting the fact that I can't—

The Hon. D.G. Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is called to order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: All the powers rest with the commonwealth in regard to industrial relation laws in this country with the exception of a couple of fields. The first one, of course, is the state public sector, which does not relate to the construction industry in any event, but the second is around occ health and safety laws. They still sit within the remit of the states, and that is why we have that exercise underway in respect of SafeWork.

If we see an opportunity to change the way SafeWork operates with respect to all workplaces, but particularly the construction sector given the interest that currently exists publicly, which we do not think is unreasonable—that they are given the ability to intervene where appropriate.