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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-10 Daily Xml
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WORKCOVER CORPORATION

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Emergency Services questions about occupational health, safety and welfare.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. Carmel Zollo: I can't hear, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: My questions are about occupational health, safety and welfare. It will be under O in your folder, minister.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: The minister frequently expresses her appreciation of the work of emergency services in South Australia and she keeps the council very well informed of the number of certificates and awards that she presents—

An honourable member: And the functions.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: —and the functions she attends in this portfolio. I note that in the latest report of the South Australian Ambulance Service, the occupational health and safety record of that service is admirable. That record is conducted under the existing provisions of the WorkCover legislation in South Australia.

I note that the service has reduced its workers compensation expenditure over its total salary from 4.3 per cent in 2005 to 2 per cent in the latest year. The cost of workers compensation has been reduced in successive years, and the number of amounts paid by way of lump-sum payments to injured ambulance workers has been a significant proportion of that expenditure. The service has been able to reduce its budget allocation for workers compensation under the existing law for each of the past three years. My questions are:

1. Can the minister explain to injured ambulance officers and their families why she is supporting a change to the workplace scheme which will slash the benefits of injured ambulance officers?

2. Can the minister explain what she has done in relation to workers compensation since 2003 when the unfunded liability of that organisation first became a serious problem?

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:38): I said before to the honourable member that I was glad he has woken up today. I am actually not the minister responsible for ambulances in this government; it is the Minister for Health, so it is about time he caught up with that because that was changed at least four years ago.

My response is not going to be any different from yesterday's. Clearly, the legislation was passed in the other place late last night. We obviously have a message for the legislation to come to this chamber, and I am sure we will see a robust debate within this place. I said yesterday that we are a responsible government. The most important thing we want to see is our injured workers get back to work. That is our first premise. Secondly, we do not want to see a scheme that is unfunded. As I said to the honourable member, I am glad he has woken up, but I am not the minister responsible for ambulance workers.

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