Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about an issue that is currently occurring in my constituency, and that is the dispute in the McCain’s workforce. There are some 400 workers employed at the McCain plant in Ballarat—400 workers who are, frankly, dealing with significant uncertainty about their future employment conditions as a result of the current workplace agreement negotiations.

A particular concern is the attempt by McCain to tender out significant parts of the operations at the site, such as cleaning and engineering, and use cut-price contractors to replace jobs. They have already flown in workers from New Zealand in response to the industrial action that is currently being undertaken. The dispute is about entitlements and hard-fought conditions in that place of work. It is also about a fight for Ballarat, to ensure that we continue to have high-paid, good quality work in our regional community.

We have already seen repercussions of conditions and standards not being upheld. I am told that, last month, a worker at the factory had both his forearms badly burnt by oil that sprayed from a hot chip fryer that had not been properly cleaned by replacement workers. When people go to work they deserve to be safe and have proper conditions in place. McCain's proposed agreement would also hand the company power to move employees from eight- to 12-hour shifts with minimal input. That has a significant impact on family life in my community. One shift worker who has worked for the plant for some 27 years said:

They don't want our agreement; they simply want to be able to do it.

That's a little bit frightening to people.

I encourage McCain to bargain in good faith.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member's time has expired. I call the member for Bennelong.

The remainder of the member for Ballarat's speech read as follows—

We have seen this elsewhere, such as at CUB, where 55 workers were sacked without notices and then offered their jobs back with a 65 per cent reduction in monetary entitlements and cuts to conditions.

We have heard that McCain has threatened to leave Ballarat if this deal is not done, despite the fact that Ballarat is one of their best performing plants and provides an excellent pipeline of local primary produce. Local workers deserve better. This is an already casualised and precarious workforce fighting for its jobs, and stripping away conditions is a kick in the guts for workers who have been at the plant for decades.

Bennelong Electorate: Eureka Prize s

John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Bennelong is the innovation capital of Australia. It is home to some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, and tech giants like Microsoft, Optus and innovators like 3M—beat that. We are the home to Australia's first hydrogen fuelling station, at Hyundai's headquarters, and the world's leading gamma knife, which can cut out brain tumours without affecting the surrounding tissue. I am pleased to announce that we also now have two local winners of the Australian Museum Eureka Prize, which rewards excellence in the fields of research and innovation leadership, science communication and school science.

Professor Ewa Goldys from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the excellent Macquarie University is winner of the ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology. Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith, a research astronomer with the CSIRO is the winner of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Australian Science Research.

Professor Ewa Goldys has developed a new use for the common microscope by using hyperspectral imaging. This innovative method can analyse biological matter to pick up the individual fluorescent colours of cells. This allows scientists to identify specific qualities and characteristics of those cells. While this study holds interest from a purely scientific perspective in expanding our knowledge of the way the world works, it also yields significant real-world benefits. This breakthrough will allow a completely new, non-invasive and rapid screening for diseases and diagnosis of health conditions. Professor Goldys says that this procedure will, importantly, improve the effectiveness of therapy, enhance scientific and medical understanding of diseases, and help patients better manage their conditions.

Bennelong's second champion of science innovation recognised in the awards is Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith of CSIRO astronomy and space science, and she is the project scientist of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The modern evolution of the Parkes telescope is an example of Australia's leadership in the field of astronomy. Built in one of the quietest places on earth, in remote Western Australia, the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder surveys the night sky looking for new galaxies, black holes and even astronomical phenomena that we do not yet know exist. For the past 50 years, Australia has been at the forefront of scientific discovery and innovation in astronomy and space science. Dr Harvey-Smith uses her scholarship, passion and enthusiasm to engage the science user community and the commissioning team by articulating clearly what is often complex science. Dr Harvey-Smith frequently promotes the work of the CSIRO. (Time expired)

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the benefit of the House and the member for Ballarat, the clock had not reset. I acknowledge that, and the speech has been given to Hansard. Just a reminder for our clock keepers to make sure we stay on that. In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.