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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-07 Daily Xml
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Public Sector Enterprise Agreements

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (15:43): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector. Will the minister please update the council on the government's progress in resolving public sector enterprise agreements?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:43): I thank the honourable member for his question and, yes, I will. I note the honourable member is a former very proud trade unionist, having worked for I think South Australia's biggest union early in his career, and what an admirable vocation that is: advocating on behalf of workers in this state, which stands in stark contrast to the former government's industrial relations minister, who would demonise people who work on behalf of the workers of this state using pejorative terms such as 'union bosses'.

That's not our view here and that's what I suspect is one of the reasons we have had such success where the former government was such an abject failure. When the change of government occurred, we were faced with a raft of outstanding public sector enterprise bargaining negotiations, which the previous Liberal government had failed to resolve. We had firefighters who had not received a pay rise since January 2020, a period of more than two shameful years. When we came to government, we had paramedics on the frontline of COVID who had not received a single pay rise since 2017. Paramedics saving people's lives who had not received a single pay rise since 2017. A shameful period—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —of more than four years. A disgraceful period of more than four years without a pay rise for a hardworking paramedic. These are the frontline emergency services workers who kept us safe, kept us safe during the pandemic and continue to keep us safe.

Rather than negotiate with hardworking public sector workers such as these, the former Liberal government, led by the Minister for Industrial Relations, the Hon. Rob Lucas, the government that was led by the Hon. Rob Lucas, they attacked, they belittled workers, we frequently saw for ourselves in this parliament. They attacked, belittled and conducted their bargaining through statements to the media and in parliament—no genuineness, no bona fide negotiations with public sector workers at all. I am pleased to say that has not been the approach of this government.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: That has not been the approach of this government. And we can hear the opposition interjecting because they don't like public sector workers to get a fair deal. They don't like genuine negotiations, bona fide discussions with public sector workers.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Interjections are out of order.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: They hate that.

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: Point of order: retract that, saying that we don't like public servants. We are public servants, for goodness sakes. That is ridiculous. Retract it. That is inappropriate.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! You might want to retract it.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I retract any suggestion that any individual member of the current Liberal parliamentary party hates public sector workers, but what they do collectively—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Point of order: the Leader of the Government needs to withdraw that. That is just offensive.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Just withdraw it and finish off, please, minister.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I withdraw.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you. Are you going to finish?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: No, I am not finished. I've got a little more to say. The Hon. Rob Lucas certainly had a great disdain for public sector workers. That was evidenced by every statement that was made, every statement that he made in this chamber.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: What we have done in a very different approach—a very, very different approach—is enter good faith negotiations and discussions with public sector unions who represent hardworking workers in the public sector. It hasn't been rocket science but it certainly has been something that the former government wasn't able to do under the leadership of the Rob Lucas Liberal government for the last four years.

Of course, the government of the day and public sector unions will not always agree on everything and there will be on occasions robust discussions in such negotiations, but that is to be expected. What is not to be expected is negotiations in bad faith and the vitriol we saw from the previous government. In last July, we—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, please conclude your remarks. I am watching the clock.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I am very pleased to remind the chamber that in last July we finalised an agreement with our Ambulance Service employees. In November last year, we finalised an agreement with our extremely hardworking nurses and midwives—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —and in December, after much negotiation, we reached an agreement with the metropolitan firefighters with their first wage rise in over two years. What a difference it makes when a government pays respect to people.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Ms Franks has a supplementary.

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