Ms BADGER question to PREMIER, Mr ROCKLIFF
Thank you, honourable Speaker. There is a huge El Niño coming and already the spring fire risk in the north-east of our state has been increased. We are sure you’d agree that looking after our firefighters is essential. You previously said that you agreed with the principle of equal pay for equal work, and that you would look into the firefighter negotiations. Premier, why won’t your government pay a Certificate III trade qualified firefighter at the TFS as much as a correctly and fairly classified firefighter at the Parks and Wildlife with a Certificate II?
ANSWER
I thank the honourable member for the questions, and I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made with respect to wage negotiations right across the public sector over the course of the last 12 months. What I’ve said consistently is that good faith negotiations, people sitting around the table expressing their views, advocating strongly for those views, and our industrial advocates in terms of the unions do that effectively well, but then come to an agreement, and we can have fair and affordable wages moving forward. We’ve done that with the doctors, the police, the teachers, facility attendants and many other hard-working people across the public service. They’ve been done exactly in that way, good‑faith negotiations, and that’s the way you should do that. I’m pleased to see that a number of those agreements have been struck, some one-year for further work, and others for three years.
Negotiations, more specifically to your question, for industrial agreements are coordinated through the state service management office with the Public Sector Industrial Relations Committee making determinations on bargaining outcomes. We are still working through matters when it comes to the United Firefighters Union (UFU), and I’m happy to get an update on that for you. The honourable minister for Police and emergency services may well be able to provide greater detail for you, but we’ve always said good‑faith negotiations are important but also ensuring that the wages reflect the value that we place on people right across the public service and notably, in this case, those on the frontline.
Supplementary Question
Ms BADGER – Premier, you said in your response multiple times that you feel that these negotiations are still continuing in good faith, which is certainly not what I and other members of this Chamber understand is the case. If you could perhaps outline to us why you think that they are actually continuing in good faith, or whether you want to correct the record and outline if you are still actually looking into this yourself, as you said you would?
Mr ROCKLIFF – What I’ve said is that my expectation is that these negotiations are conducted in good faith. Those good‑faith negotiations have resulted in very positive wage increases across a number of areas across the public service, and fair and affordable. I’m happy to seek greater detail when it comes to the specifics of your question, and I’m sure the minister for Police and emergency services will be more than happy to work his way through your questions. Thank you.
