Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The building and construction industry right across Australia is a dangerous place to work. The record of deaths and injuries remains unacceptably high, and in my state of Western Australia it is a particularly dangerous place to work as workplace deaths have increased.

When Marianka, only 27, a German backpacker, fell metres to her death on a Finbar construction project in the Perth CBD, it was just business as usual. The concrete pour continued, the site was not closed, blood and strewn work clothing were clearly visible and accessible, and there had been no effort to ensure that the scene of the fatality was not contaminated. Finbar did not even call the police. That was done by an ABC journalist. It was in fact as if the loss of her life did not matter—an issue worth no more attention than a dropped tool or a broken machine.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Lines. It being 2 pm we will proceed to questions without notice.