Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to comment, in the time that is remaining, on the various questions that have been raised with me by participants on both sides of the House, including the shadow minister, the member for Gorton; members of my own party; and the member for Chifley.

I might deal with the member for Chifley's issue first, because it involves the tragic death of a young man, Mr Joshua Park-Fing, through no fault of his own, in April 2016 at the Toowoomba Showgrounds, as a member of the Work for the Dole program that was at that time in operation there. I am advised not to comment on the specific details of the accident while an investigation is still currently underway. The matter was reported immediately to the police and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, being the relevant regulatory authority. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is currently still conducting an investigation into the accident and of course has the support of Minister Cash's Department of Employment. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has not yet provided a firm date for finalisation of its investigation.

The Department of Employment has investigated those matters that fall within its role as the program owner, including compliance with the deed requirements by the jobactive provider. It is apparent that the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigation may cover matters that are also subject to the department's report. At this stage, it would not be prudent to comment on the details of the incidents or to release that information about the incident before those investigations have been finalised. The Department of Employment has written to the provider, outlining a range of actions required to ensure jobseeker safety in Work for the Dole activities, and I am advised that the program that was being conducted at the Toowoomba Showgrounds was immediately suspended and has not been resumed.

In a wider sense, the member for Chifley asks about what the government is doing about making sure that work health and safety arrangements for Work for the Dole are in place. I can assure him and all members of the House that the government takes workplace safety as seriously as the Labor Party or any other political party in this place does. Obviously it is an area where sometimes terrible accidents do occur, as happened in Toowoomba, and all of us would be united in extending our sympathies to Joshua's family in what must have been a very traumatic experience that will live with them for the rest of their lives.

Work health and safety is a priority for the Work for the Dole program, and the work health and safety arrangements are carefully considered in the design and implementation of the program. There are clear expectations set out to ensure all the parties meet their work health and safety obligations. Providers have to ensure there is a safe system of work in place throughout the life of any Work for the Dole activity. A risk assessment must be conducted on the work health and safety of each Work for the Dole activity. That is done by the Work for the Dole coordinator or the jobactive provider that sources the activity. Risk assessments must be conducted by a competent person, defined by the Model Work Health and Safety Regulations as being 'a person who has acquired through training, qualification or experience the knowledge and skills to carry out the task'. In addition, providers must conduct an assessment for each jobseeker referred to a Work for the Dole place, and host organisations also have work health and safety obligations. Of course, that would be the case no matter who was in government, either the coalition or Labor. I know that the previous government did support the Work for the Dole program. While the numbers of people who took part in the Work for the Dole program did plummet during that time, it was one of the programs that survived from the Howard era.

In the last minute that I have remaining, unless I am given permission by the opposition to continue, I would like to deal with some of the other issues that have been raised with me. The member for Gorton asked questions about the slow wages growth, as he described it, and asked for information about the forecasts that Treasury has provided and whether we have confidence in those forecasts.

Of course the government has absolute confidence in the forecasts provided by Treasury in the budget. The wage rise that was recently announced by the Fair Work Commission, on 6 June 2017, to apply from 1 July 2017 is actually above the wages growth figure for the whole economy. The wage price index is 1.9 per cent over the year to the March quarter of 2017, and wages growth is forecast by the Treasury to be 2½ per cent in 2017. (Time expired)

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