John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Like an emperor. He is aping the sort of behaviour that you expect in other countries.

But the key thing I want to speak about today is something that ought to concern every senator in this chamber, and that is the issue of staff safety in this building. It has been an issue for a long time. It has been an issue that I know many senators from all sides have taken a genuine interest in. I believe that we have a massive problem with safety for staffers who work in this building. We really have a developing shambles around the building at the moment, with traffic chaos and what can occur with drop-offs and pick-ups from taxis and the like, as well as the security concerns that I know many people share.

No matter what measures have been put in place by the Department of Parliamentary Services, the reality is that we have still got a situation where staff are standing outside this building, often at 9 pm, 10 pm, 11 pm or midnight, in the dark and wandering deserted underground corridors in sub-zero Canberra temperatures—and it is just not good enough. We in this building, the senators and the members of parliament, have a duty of care for the people who work for us and those people who work in this building more broadly.

It is not good enough to adopt an ‘I’m all right, Jack’ attitude. Senators can either drive themselves, as I do, or be picked up by Commonwealth cars. We are very fortunate to be in that situation. But, because of the bollards on the slip-roads and the new arrangements in relation to traffic, our staff and other staff in this building have to go to pick-up points on either side of the building. There is one outside the Senate door and there is one at the so-called point 1 in the public car park. These are unfamiliar surroundings, where staff tell me they feel very uncomfortable, they do not feel safe and they do not feel secure—and we have to do something about this. We can do a lot better in protecting and defending the interests of the people who work in this building. We have a responsibility to look after them. We do not want to see people sacrificing their personal safety because of these poorly thought out plans around the building. It is simply not good enough.

Senators from both sides of the parliament are particularly driven by a proposal that originally emanated from Senator Ray. He came up with a plan to use the senators car park as a pick-up and drop-off point. I think that would work very well. I am yet to hear a substantive argument against it. I would hope that that is going to be reassessed. I would hope that the Senate Appropriations and Staffing Committee will look at this issue as a matter of urgency. I think the Senate Appropriations and Staffing Committee should meet before the winter recess to discuss this situation, which is still unsatisfactory, in relation to the safety of people who work in this building.

I am concerned particularly for my own personal staff, who face these same issues on a daily basis. It is not unique to my office. It is not unique to senators. It is not unique even to senators and member of parliaments. This is a real concern, and we have to do something about it. We have a responsibility to do something about it. I urge the President of the Senate, Senator Calvert—and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, if he can be convinced to act—to act on these issues. Let us get a newer security assessment of these bollards, which can be retracted with 7,000 passes. We do not want to run the risk of the bollards issue turning to bollocks! We do not want that to occur. We want safety around the building. (Time expired)