Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – Thank you, Deputy Speaker, and I thank the members of the Opposition for bringing forward this important matter of public importance. I will circle back to some of the comments of the minister for Health just now, but I will start by unpacking my perspective on safe and secure jobs and outline that it is not just about the economy and we have to weave into this the human element as well. Safe and secure jobs have to include an element of personal satisfaction. For jobs to be safe and secure, they need to be fulfilling. People need to be fulfilled by the activities they are employed in. They need to be feeling they are contributing not just to the economy but to society as a whole and their fellows in the community. They need to make sure that they have their own self‑respect in the position they are in and they need to have pathways to growth.
I wanted to introduce that human element to this. It is not just a mantra about jobs or an economy, although obviously there is no economy without jobs, safety, security, satisfaction. It is not just about the job; it is about the person in it and the people who are around those people. A safe, secure and satisfying job needs to feel supported, as if it has the budgetary backing of government to deliver the services it needs to do its actual job. There is nothing more undermining or demoralising than knowing that you do not have the resources, you are not being given the resources to do the job you are paid to do. You need that funding and you need colleagues around you for the camaraderie and support for them to be doing their piece in the puzzle.
We have seen time and time again in the education system where teachers and support staff, educators, are overworked, under-recognised and under-supported. My colleague the member for Clark told a powerful story a couple of weeks ago around running into his previous colleagues in the school system after numerous years who were saying they are no longer teaching as they could not handle it anymore. That is a situation we cannot accept because we need good teachers in our schools and they need to stick with those schools because they can grow and get better and our students will benefit as a result.
The education system is just one area. There is a long discussion here and we have been tirelessly trying to lever out of this government some kind of clarity on exactly what vacancy control is and who is going to be impacted. What are the frontline roles that are going be impacted? All we have seen from the government is to deny that it equals a cut and point to investment, but there is no other way of describing it. If you are not replacing the position when it becomes vacant it is in effect a cut. This will have flow‑on implications for the workers that remain in the health system. They will have to do more work, have less support and ultimately be less satisfied in their position because they feel less supported.
It will also have an impact on them as individuals. We heard with absolutely crystal clarity during the ramping inquiry that the impact of ramping is not just having a negative impact on patients in our health system. It is having a negative impact on the mental health, wellbeing and satisfaction of our frontline health professionals as well. Our ambos and emergency department staff are feeling abandoned and let down. It is having a massive impact on them. They know that they cannot do their job properly when they are not supported by this government.
On some of the issues that the minister has raised, we must take him up on his delusion, blaming issues from 10 years ago when the impact of the global financial crisis was so severe. When it comes to the forestry industry, I know it is your mantra, minister, but you have to remember that it was the industry that was coming to government to ask for support and ask for structure, because it is supporting people to manage change. When change comes because of global circumstances, it is government’s responsibility to help manage that change.
There is no safety, no security and no satisfaction in unsustainable jobs, because it leads to market insecurity, regulatory insecurity and other issues. In that context, until we end native forest logging, fish farming –
