WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY
BILL 2019
811. MR S.J. PRICE to the Minister for Industrial Relations:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's strong commitment to improving workplace health and
safety, which includes investing in more WorkSafe inspectors and introducing
tougher penalties. Can the minister outline to the house how this government's
Work Health and Safety Bill 2019 will help protect workers and ensure those
responsible for workplace deaths are held to account?
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON
replied:
I genuinely appreciate the question
from the member for Forrestfield, a person who has spent his life supporting
working people. I was asked why we were creating this legislation and what it
is attempting to achieve. I want to quote from Hansard. It states
—
The
purpose of this legislation is not only to ensure that there is a just and
appropriate punishment for people who fail in that duty of care in the
workplace � but also about changing the culture and ensuring that the culture
at that workplace at the start of each day is � to have everybody get to the
end of that shift �
That really sums it up. The bill
also seeks to increase penalties. I will quote again from Hansard of 18 February.
It states —
To
have imposed upon the people who allowed that worksite to be managed in that
way only a $38 000 penalty by the court adds insult to injury.
This member then referred to a meeting
with Regan Ballantine and said —
The other appalling component of that
conversation with Regan Ballantine, with regard to the loss of her son, Wesley,
was the appalling penalties that have been imposed by the court.
So we are attempting to increase
the penalties. It further states —
We need the possibility of serious
criminal consequences, including jail time for individuals, as it is the only
way to ensure that work safety breaches are not simply treated as a price of
doing business.
This member concluded —
These laws will never bring Wes back,
but they may, they just may, provide some justice to families who lose their
loved ones, and, most critically, prevent further lives being lost. I commend
the bill.
The member also said —
� the � opposition does not oppose
this legislation �
They are the words of the Leader of
the Opposition in Hansard. It is extraordinary to therefore report to
the house that after this legislation received three full days of debate in
this chamber, the other chamber has now received two committee reports and
debated the bill for a full seven days, and it has not been passed. This
legislation, as the Leader of the Opposition
pointed out, is about providing criminal penalties, including jail time, for
people who not only meet a high test,
but also do not meet their duties. That has been the debate in the other
chamber: should somebody go to jail for not complying with their duties.
I commend the Nationals WA for supporting the Labor Party on that principle.
That principle, of course, is already in the existing legislation, but was for
some reason opposed in the other house by the Liberal Party. After more than
three weeks of debate, plus two committees, the Liberal Party still cannot make
up its mind. That is a disgrace. The bill should be back here.
When the Leader of the Opposition
met with Regan Ballantine, a woman of great courage, who was the one who
convinced me to include industrial manslaughter in this bill, I understand from
talking to Regan that the Leader of the Opposition shed tears. I have a question:
were those crocodile tears?
Mr D.C. Nalder: How many
amendments have you moved?
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON: That is an
interesting question from the member for Bateman. It is correct that we have
moved a few amendments that were in response to issues raised by the Liberal
Party in this chamber. I have said on a number of occasions that we want to
work cooperatively with the Liberal Party. Members should know that my good
friend the Hon Alannah MacTiernan cannot present those amendments to the
Legislative Council because the Liberal Party is wasting time debating clauses
that it supports. They spent over an hour of parliamentary time on a clause
that they supported. The behaviour of the Liberal Party is a question of
leadership. This is a question of leadership. Tell me, Leader of the
Opposition: how many more hours of parliamentary time does this bill need in
the other house? The Leader of the Opposition should go out and tell the media
why the Liberal Party is delaying this legislation. Why is it that the shadow
minister takes a week to deal with the bill, but a member of Parliament, Hon Michael Mischin, a person that the Leader of the Opposition does not want to see in the
Parliament because she has demoted him on the ticket and will not be
re-elected to the Parliament—that is the position of the Leader of the
Opposition—is taking up time, in an embarrassing way, just being
disgraceful.
I
want to remind the Leader of the Opposition that all the families from the
organisation Families Left Behind watch every minute of the debate. They
are angry. They are not just disappointed; they are angry. We saw what happened
on Tuesday. Those events on Tuesday will be dealt with under the Occupational
Safety and Health Act—a bill from 1984. That does not provide a clear
line of responsibility for labour hire and subcontracting, which is what the
Work Health and Safety Bill 2019 will do. This bill simply translates the
existing arrangements into a modern workplace and increases the penalties. We
need this bill passed. I invite the Leader of the Opposition to go out and tell
the media how many more hours of debate this bill will need. More than three
weeks of parliamentary debate and two committee inquiries and the Liberal Party
is still not supporting it.