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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 651 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 26 October 2022 by Ms L. Mettam

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

NURSES — INDUSTRIAL ACTION

651. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:

I refer to the escalating industrial action by WA Health workers with the Australian Nursing Federation, which includes plans to ban both overtime and double shifts from today.

(1) What assurance can the minister give the WA community that the minister's inability to negotiate a fair and timely wage agreement with this sector is not compromising patient safety?

(2) Is the minister meeting with the ANF today in a bid to stop this further action?

Ms A. SANDERSON replied:

(1)–(2) The premise of the question is fundamentally incorrect when the member says health unions. It is one health union, the Australian Nursing Federation, that is taking industrial action. My position remains as it was last week. This is an unnecessary escalation of industrial action. I can tell the member that the ANF and senior members of the department, including the director general, have been meeting almost every day since Thursday last week, including on the weekend and yesterday. Absolutely, the community can be assured that the government takes this seriously, that we support nurses and that we want to reach an agreement. We have put an offer on the table that is everything that it has asked for publicly.

I implore the nurses to pause the industrial action. That has been our request at the bargaining table. It is unnecessary and, in fact, poor form to continue industrial action when there is genuine bargaining afoot. That is not the premise of good faith bargaining. It is not appropriate. There may be other reasons why the ANF is continuing industrial action, but I can tell this chamber and the community that we are working day and night and through the weekends to resolve these issues for the nurses.