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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-26 Daily Xml
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SAFEWORK SA

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Industrial Relations a question relating to SafeWork SA.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Today, The Advertiser reported that lifts linking the underground cells to the Supreme and District Courts are experiencing widespread repeated breakdowns, leaving staff trapped with uncuffed criminals for hours at a time. A SafeWork SA spokesman is reported as having indicated that the organisation is preparing a report. However, it is also reported that the Courts Administration Authority will not have the funds to replace the faulty lifts until 2012. Chief Justice Doyle has been reported as saying that the budget cuts to the agency, which last year totalled $208 million, have left no money to upgrade cramped and inadequate facilities.

The opposition understands that access to some courts and toilets is external only, that some rooms are small and overcrowded and that in the old Supreme Court building the same toilets are used by witnesses, victims and defendants. My questions are:

1. When was the matter of occupational health and safety issues resulting from problems with the Supreme Court lifts first raised with SafeWork SA?

2. When will the report of SafeWork SA be finalised and action taken?

3. Has SafeWork SA undertaken an assessment of the occupational health and safety environment of the courts precinct generally?

4. Can the minister assure the council that this government's failure to properly fund the Courts Administration Authority will not be used as an excuse to tolerate health and safety risks to members of the authority?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:36): The member asks when this matter was first raised. I do not know the answer to that, and I will obviously have to go back and look, given the relatively brief tenure in which I have been Minister for Industrial Relations. I will certainly go back and see what the record is in relation to this matter.

In regard to the other questions the honourable member asked, as he said, there is a press report today in relation to this issue that indicates that there had been some SafeWork SA involvement in that particular matter. I have asked for a report on that, but I have not received the details as yet because I have come straight back to the parliament from a luncheon. However, I expect to get a report from SafeWork SA in relation to this. Hopefully, it will provide some of the answers to the questions the member has asked, and I will provide those to him at the first opportunity.

In relation to the broad question of funding, I just make the comment that, like every other area of government, the government has to set priorities. Yes, there is a need in the courts for additional funding, but there are needs in a whole lot of other areas of government. At the same time, government also has an obligation to make sure that the finances of this state are sustainable in the longer term, and that is not necessarily an easy issue. It is all very well for members opposite to say that we need to spend more money on this and more money on that and that we need to cut taxes here and cut taxes there, as they do, but obviously the government has to order its priorities.

In relation to the latter part of the question, of course the occupational health, safety and welfare of our employees has the highest priority. I am not aware of any particular risk in relation to that matter. As I said, we are getting the information now from SafeWork SA. While that is a high priority, we also have a number of other priorities for government that we need to fund. The government is going through the exercise now, and the Sustainable Budget Commission is looking at the finances of the state to ensure that we provide the services we need but that we do so in a sustainable way.

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