Tuesday 5th Dec 2000 Richard Prebble Media Release -- Other

The Labour government have continued their ideological ‘crusade’ against business with the release of a discussion paper on Health and Safety in Employment, said ACT leader Hon Richard Prebble.

Labour Minister, Margaret Wilson, today released the discussion paper as part of the Government’s review of the eight-year old Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992).

“The government are convinced that all employers are reckless and want to exploit their workers. Yet the only foreseeable result of this review will be another weapon added to the union arsenal.

“While the Minister states that she wants to create a safe and collaborative working environment, radical reforms made by her government have compromised this goal. The re-nationalisation of ACC bought all employers costs and incentives in line with the worst employer in their category. The real effect of this was to remove the incentives to provide a safer work environment.

“The only reason this review is being conducted is because Margaret Wilson knows that the ideological re-nationalisation of ACC was the single most destructive measure for the ongoing safety of New Zealand employees.

“The nine months of competition in ACC saw work place accidents drop from 267,830 (ACC) in 1998 to 145,000 (private insurance), rehabilitation rates dramatically improve and fewer compensation disputes.

“The Minister extensively quotes statistics to justify her argument yet she has conveniently forgotten to include the figures that show the most dramatic improvement in workplace safety in New Zealand’s history,” said Hon Richard Prebble.

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

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