25 February 2015

Speech in the Legislative Council on Workplace safety and violence

HON PETER KATSAMBANIS (North Metropolitan) [5.26 pm]:

I rise tonight to discuss a very important issue: workplace safety and violence in the workplace. I think everyone agrees that every Western Australian has the right to be in a workplace free of duress, harassment and bullying and certainly free of any violence whatsoever. That right extends to employees, employers, contractors or anyone else for that matter. This morning, I received an email from someone who does not usually email me. I opened that email and it alerted me to something that had occurred yesterday here in Western Australia that indicated that perhaps not everyone shares that view that people should be free from violence in the workplace. I received an email from Christy Cain, Maritime Union of Australia (WA) branch secretary. It states —

The following statement has been issued by MUA WA Branch Secretary Christy Cain in relation to reports in this morning’s edition of The Australian.

I had not seen that paper at that stage. I will read what the email states —

What happened yesterday was completely unacceptable, and our national secretary spoke to Mr Burrell yesterday to apologise on behalf of the union and our members.

The WA Branch of the Maritime Union of Australia strongly condemns the actions of the individual involved in this incident. Every worker, whether they are a maritime worker or a journalist, should be able to do their job in a safe work environment.

Our union will discipline the individual and provide counselling aimed at ensuring this doesn’t happen again.

That was the email I received. That is interesting. I thought: I agree with that. I probably have, from time to time, taken issue with the MUA—many times—but I thought that this statement makes sense —
Every worker, whether they are a maritime worker or a journalist, should be able to do their job in a safe work environment.

Something has happened and Mr Cain thinks someone needs to be disciplined and provided with counselling. That is pretty good. I thought: I may as well see what the fuss is about. Why would Mr Cain, who is not a friend of mine—I do not know him and I have never met him—send me this email? I went to The Australian. It did not take me too long. I looked at the front page of The Australian and saw these three colour photographs. There was journalist Andrew Burrell, who had attended a conference of the Maritime Union of Australia here in Perth. The conference was also attended by Mr Cain, I believe, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Dave Oliver, whom I have met many years ago and on more than one occasion. It appears as though Mr Burrell had been invited to cover this conference and here are three photographs showing in sequence a man, with a black T-shirt and a cap and sunglasses around the cap, grabbing hold of Mr Burrell’s arm.

Hon Alyssa Hayden interjected.

Hon PETER KATSAMBANIS: If members want to look, I have some here; I am happy to incorporate them into Hansard if the house so desires. Another photograph is of the same individual in the black shirt with the sunglasses on the cap grabbing Mr Burrell by the throat. The third photograph showed this same gentleman in the black shirt and the sunglasses and the cap holding Mr Burrell on the ground by the leg in what to me looks like some form of wrestling move. How Mr Burrell got from sitting in a chair with a hand across his throat to being on the ground in a wrestling hold, I will leave to members’ imagination.

Hon Martin Aldridge: He fell!

Hon PETER KATSAMBANIS: Perhaps he fell, as Hon Martin Aldridge says; perhaps he got struck by lightning; or perhaps he just wanted to sit on the floor at that time. I will leave that to the imagination of others, as this matter may go further.

I have looked at these photographs and read the accompanying story. Apparently the photographer for The Australian who took these photographs was also attending the conference and was threatened and asked to hand over his memory card from the camera with which he had taken the photos. That was a greater indication of the support for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the press that members of the Maritime Union of Australia quite clearly have! However, it got me thinking that the gentleman in the black shirt is obviously someone who Mr Cain thinks is worthy of discipline by the union and who requires counselling. I look at these photographs and the incident, to me, smacks of a prima facie case of assault.

I will let the police and the courts decide whether it needs to be taken further, but why would the MUA discipline someone for assault? It is a criminal offence and the appropriate discipline for that is to front up to court and have the case determined.

The man may be found guilty or he may have some defence—I do not know—that the photographs had been doctored by The Australian, although I do not think they were. I am sure that there are plenty of witnesses to the incident, as people were standing around there. However, this is not a matter for discipline by a union; this is not a matter for counselling; this is a matter for referral to police and for appropriate investigation and further action. All right-minded citizens should call for that, including Mr Cain, who clearly believes, as he says in the statement, that every worker should be able to do their job in a safe work environment. I agree with that statement, and it applies to everybody—not only to workers, but also to everyone in a workplace.

As I said, it applies to employees, employers, contractors, anyone visiting, invited journalists and the like; each one of them has that right. When violence is perpetrated, that violence should be reported to the authorities. From Mr Cain’s email, he obviously seems to know who this individual is, so I expect that he will cooperate fully with a police investigation.

I read some further news articles today in which Mr Burrell had suggested that he would refer this matter to the police. If it becomes a police matter, I would urge Mr Cain not only to provide discipline—I do not know what that might mean—through the union and counselling, but also to go out there and let the police know who this individual is and let justice take its course.

The obvious conclusion to draw from this incident is that either Mr Cain really means what he says in this statement that he emailed to me—he probably emailed it to many other people too because if it got to me, I am sure it got to others—and he will name this individual to the police and let justice take its course, or this is some sort of attempt to sugar-coat what actually happened yesterday at this Maritime Union of Australia state conference. He cannot have it both ways. If he abhors workplace violence, as all right-minded citizens do, and if he takes a dim view of people being assaulted and journalists not being allowed to practise their trade freely, especially when they seem to have been invited to an event in the first place, he should assist police with their inquiries.

Anything else would be a mealy-mouthed attempt to cover up what is clearly a public relations disaster for a trade union that in the past has been accused—I say “has been accused”—of not always adhering exactly to the niceties of workplace activity; that is a nice way of putting it. Others less charitable than I would probably call it thuggery or the like.

So, here is an open invitation to the MUA: if it does not support thuggery, if it does not support workplace violence and if it does not support threats and intimidation, please cooperate with the police, name this member to the police and let the police take action. And if Mr Burrell so chooses, he could take action as well, given that, from the photographs I have seen, he may well have suffered injuries. Otherwise, if the MUA does not do that, we will know where it really stands.

In closing, Mr President, I would like to seek leave to incorporate these three photographs into Hansard, if possible.

The PRESIDENT: I point out that I do not believe Hansard has the provision to incorporate photographs in Hansard.

Hon PETER KATSAMBANIS: I will table them.

The PRESIDENT: Certainly, you can seek leave to table them.

Hon PETER KATSAMBANIS: I seek leave to table these three photographs.
Leave granted.

The photos shown below are courtesy of The Australian. The news story referred to above can be found here.