Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I first saw Senator Cameron get to his feet I thought, 'Gracious me, there is a time when he and I are going to be in agreement.' Indeed, I had a similar thought when Senator Rice rose to her feet. Let us be very clear on what this legislation is about—it is about protecting the rights of workers and employees in general who may be employed by the ACT government. That is what the bill is all about. Why we heard a rant from Senator Cameron for the length of time we did over issues so totally irrelevant to the matter before the chamber is beyond me. It makes me perhaps a little less wondering why the Scottish Nationalist Party did as well in Scotland as they did last Thursday, but it does cause me to question why Senator Cameron would have personally attacked Senator O'Sullivan in the way he did—what relevance does that have to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment (Exit Arrangements) Bill?

This bill is all about making sure the interests of workers covered under ACT workers compensation legislation are protected should the ACT government decide to leave the protection of Comcare. I applaud Senator Rice because in her opening comments she completely focused on that point, and that is what the coalition is focusing on. Why does this matter need to be addressed now? Simply because of the timing of it. We know that on 26 February this year the ACT government announced that it was consulting its workforce on plans to leave the Comcare scheme, and that those consultations were completed on 8 May—only a week ago. If the ACT government were to leave the scheme, where are their current and past employees to be dealt with? We know that those people need to be protected—Senator Rice eloquently said this, as did Senator Cameron when he first kicked off, before he went off on a rant. The coalition believes these people need to be protected.

The question of whether the ACT government does leave the scheme is for another time. Imagine if we were not trying to deal with this issue now—Senator Cameron would be leaping up and carrying on a treat, saying that workers are not being protected and asking what the Commonwealth government is doing to fix it. In fact that is what we are doing with this bill

We are seeking to ensure that, in the event that the ACT government does leave the scheme, there are sufficient funds in the scheme so that the Commonwealth can ensure that those employees, present and past, are actually fully protected under this legislation. Had we failed to move on this, they would be screaming from the rafters on the other side.

Debate interrupted.