Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-09-24 Daily Xml

Contents

TAFE SA

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): As part of those negotiations, are we likely to see changes to the face-to-face teaching time for lecturers, changes to term dates and holiday periods and lecturers teaching multiple subjects?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:28): Was the question 'as part of the enterprise bargaining'?

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: The member is confusing enterprise bargaining with the reform agenda and he is interchanging them. He does not really know what he is talking about, but in terms of the reform agenda, I talked about the introduction of technology and a whole range of things that are occurring. In relation to enterprise bargaining, they are around the specific payments and conditions of employment.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: You've got face-to-face time, holidays—they are the things that people can negotiate on.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I am not going to second-guess the outcome of this next round of enterprise bargaining or the rounds after that. There is no way. It is completely out of order and inappropriate for me to be trying to second-guess what the next round is. But in terms of the process—and the honourable member probably does not realise this—the unions are represented in this and the employer and employee representatives come together and sit around the table and negotiate. What the parties choose to put on the table is a matter for them, and what the outcome of those negotiations and the agreements—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Who is negotiating on the part of the government? You, as minister?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: No, the industrial relations minister. The honourable member doesn't have a clue; he just doesn't have a clue. He doesn't know how government works. Ah, that's because he has never been in government, and is probably unlikely to be either. As I said, I welcome those negotiations. Bring them on; the parties and their representatives will come to the table in good faith and they will negotiate in good faith, and what they agree to will be a matter of those parties.