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The Hon. Dr BRIAN PEZZUTTI: My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Now that the Minister has announced a blitz on country building sites, is this an admission that previous redeployments of 18 WorkCover inspectors to man a call centre was the wrong move?
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: It is not an admission about anything. The Hon. Dr Brian Pezzutti, as usual, has got the wrong end of the argument. First, the blitz I referred to earlier, about which I made an announcement yesterday, is not simply in relation to country building sites; it is specifically in relation to formwork and falsework, concrete pours and concrete structures.
The Hon. Michael Gallacher: Are the 18 inspectors still working in the call centre?
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: The Leader of the Opposition should not be carrying on like that. The Lake Cargelligo deaths are taken very seriously by this Government, as all occupational health and safety issues are. The Leader of the Opposition came up with a bunch of silly gags about Zimbabwe, joint committees, and other matters. He did not even come to the safety summit, but his rival did. The Hon. Greg Pearce must be really desperate to prove himself. He could be a very impressive leader.
Members of this House are no doubt aware of union concerns that WorkCover inspectors are being used to answer telephone inquiries in the WorkCover information centre. One of the most important roles of a WorkCover inspector involves providing the industry and the community with information, assistance and advice on occupational health and safety so that employers and employees can take their own responsibility for the development of safety programs, risk management, hazard reduction, and so on, in workplaces. Members of the public seeking information about these matters are able to obtain advice by contacting the WorkCover Information Centre—and it is going to be quality advice given by inspectors with field experience; it will not be Mickey Mouse advice.
The Hon. Dr Brian Pezzutti: Point of order: I asked whether the Minister has redeployed the 18 WorkCover inspectors he had previously redeployed to a call centre, so they can be inspectors. Has the Minister now taken those inspectors out of the call centre and put them back into the field? If so, I ask whether the Minister will he agree that the decision to have inspectors man telephones was a mistake?
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: To the point of order: There is no substance to the point of order. However, I note that when I mentioned "Mickey Mouse" the Hon. Dr Brian Pezzutti got to his feet.
The PRESIDENT: Order! The Minister was speaking about inspectors generally and is clearly answering the question. The Minister may continue.
The Hon. JOHN DELLA BOSCA: To clarify the matter for the Hon. Dr Brian Pezzutti, the blitz is being conducted by WorkCover's 42 inspectors dedicated to construction and the country team. The inspectors are being deployed to specifically undertake this blitz work. I was about to explain for the Hon. Dr Brian Pezzutti's benefit—given that he asked a question about what is happening with the inspectors who are part of WorkCover's information centre—what is going on there and how that work is contributing to occupational health and safety. However, the Hon. Dr Brian Pezzutti, like his leader, is not particularly interested in occupational health and safety.
Inquiries received by the WorkCover Information Centre are generally actioned by information offices with support from inspectors in cases where the information sought is of a specialised or technical nature. Inspectors have the technical and specialised skills to deal with inquiries by employers who need to use the telephone to make contact with people who can authoritatively give them advice about occupational health and safety matters.
That is what I was referring to earlier when I spoke about "Mickey Mouse", but then the Hon. Dr Brian Pezzutti got to his feet. He must have thought I was giving him the call, or that I was making comments about him. WorkCover has commenced recruitment action for additional information officers to provide assistance in the information centre during peak periods. WorkCover has advised that during the past two weeks—[Time expired.]