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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-07-20 Daily Xml
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WORKCOVER

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:38): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the minister for WorkCover a question about payments made by WorkCover.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I believe Unions SA runs the SA Unions Workers Compensation Advisory Service. This is an advocacy service for injured workers prior to judicial determination. WorkCover funds this service for up to a maximum of somewhere between $2,500 and $2,700 per case. Unions SA has recently had the contract—

The Hon. J.M. Gazzola: SA Unions.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —renewed to provide that service. I am told that several individuals who provide the advisory service have purported to be from Unions SA—

The Hon. J.M. Gazzola: SA Unions.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —including one Nadia Zivkovic, who, while doing this work, has had in excess of $100,000 paid directly to her over the past three to four years. My advice is she has never worked for Unions SA—

The Hon. J.M. Gazzola: SA Unions.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —and there is no record of her salary or any tax paid by her to the ATO by Unions SA on her behalf.

The Hon. J.M. Gazzola: SA Unions.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: It has been suggested there may be some falsification of invoices so the funds were directly paid to her. Unions SA—

The Hon. J.M. Gazzola: SA Unions.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: —claims it was unaware of this practice. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can he confirm that Nadia Zivkovic has been paid around $100,000, even though she has never worked for Unions SA?

The Hon. J.M. Gazzola: SA Unions.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY:

2. Who made those payments and who authorised them?

3. What process does WorkCover have to be certain that all payments go to the people intended, that is, representatives of Unions SA?

The Hon. J.M. Gazzola: SA Unions.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY:

4. How widespread has this practice been?

5. Is WorkCover intending to recover any of the funds?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:40): I will be pleased to refer those questions to the appropriate minister in another place and bring back a response. I find it remarkable that I think probably on close to 10 occasions the Hon. David Ridgway throughout his question pronounced an incorrect title for our unions.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Probably on 10 occasions, Mr President, at least. Not only that, he was corrected on each occasion by my colleague behind me. On each occasion the Hon. Mr Gazzola corrected him that it is not Unions SA, it is SA Unions. On every single occasion that the Hon. David Ridgway mispronounced the title of our peak South Australian union body, he was corrected, yet he refused to pronounce the name correctly. That is what I find incredibly arrogant and incredibly offensive. All of us in this chamber from time to time mispronounce names but, once the correct pronunciation is pointed out, most members here are respectful enough to take heed of that and incorporate the correct pronunciation in future dialogue.

However, in this case: no. We had an example of the opposition knocking off really important union representation yesterday. We can see how much they despise and loathe unions. We saw examples of that yesterday yet, here today, on almost 10 occasions, we see the opposition leader of the Liberal Party in this place mispronounce the name of our peak South Australian union body, and he refused to stand corrected on any of those occasions. That is how arrogant and disdainful the Liberal opposition is of our union colleagues. That is how much they despise our union comrades.

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