Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the government’s Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) and Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill. Is it not the case that this bill, together with the active encouragement of the government, will allow private companies which operate across different states to move from state jurisdictions to the Commonwealth jurisdiction for occupational health and safety matters? Won’t this have the effect that such multistate private employers will be subject to a less stringent enforcement mechanism for occupational health and safety than is currently the case? For example, in New South Wales alone in 2004-05, 203 Commonwealth workplace visits took place and 20,892 New South Wales workplace inspector visits. Prime Minister, post-Beaconsfield, how is this improving occupational health and safety in the workplace of the future?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the learned member for Banks—

Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Resources, Forestry and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Learned?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The learned member for Banks for asking me such a learned and searching question, and I will endeavour to give it the learned and well researched response that it deserves. I always listen carefully to what the member for Banks says. He has insights into many things, not least the operations of his own party in his home state. I would be surprised—and I am not in a position, as the learned member knows, to give an opinion—if it had that effect, but I will take the honourable and learned gentleman’s question very seriously and give him a considered response.