Queensland Parliamentary Debates [Hansard] Legislative Assembly TUESDAY, 19 MARCH 1985 Electronic reproduction of original hardcopy 3972 19 March 1985 Ministerial Statements TUESDAY, 19 MARCH 1985 Mr SPEAKER (Hon. J. H. Warner, Toowoomba South) read prayers and took the chair at 11 a.m. ASSENT TO BILLS Assent to the following Bills reported by Mr Speaker— Electricity (Continuity of Supply) BUI; Property Law Act Amendment Bill; Hen Quotas Act Amendment BUI. PAPERS The following papers were laid on the table, and ordered to be printed— Reports— Queensland Housing Commission for the year ended 30 June 1984 Operations of Stock Routes and Rural Lands Protection Act 1944-1984 and Barrier Fences Act 1954-1984 for the year ended 30 June 1984 Rockhampton Harbour Board for the year ended 30 June 1984. The following papers were laid on the table— Orders in Council under— Govemor's Salary Act 1872-1984 Queensland Transport and Technology Centre Act and the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982-1984 State Development and Public Works Organization Act 1971-1981 and the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982-1984 Electricity Act 1976-1984 and the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982-1984 Irrigation Act 1922-1983 and the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982-1984 Water Act 1926-1983 Harbours Act 1955-1982. Regulations under— Public Service Act 1922-1978 Canals Act 1958-1984 Fire Brigades Act 1964-1984. MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS Derailments on Goonyella Railway Line Hon. D. F. LANE (Merthyr—Minister for Transport) (11.6 a.m.), by leave: I have to report to Pariiament that during the month of March 1985, three deraUments occurred on the Goonyella railway line as a result of wheel fracture. These were— Mindi-Coppabella section—3 March 1985, 1 wagon derailed; Black Mountain—5 March 1985, 15 wagons derailed; and Mindi-Waitara section—7 March 1985, 2 wagons derailed. As a result of these unprecedented derailments caused by defective wheels, arrangements were made to send specialists from Brisbane with ultrasonic equipment to Ministerial Statements 19 March 1985 3973 undertake a crash program of testing all coal wagon wheels in operation over the Goonyella railway line. As at 8 a.m. today, a total of 2 347 wagons had been examined. Resulting from this, 146 wagons were marked off for attention. A summary of the defects detected is as follows— Confirmed cracked wheels .. 5 Suspected cracked wheels . 9 Rolled edges 78 Thermal or surface cracks . 46 , Tread damage 5 Flange damage 2 Shelled tread 1. Only 74 wagons remain to be inspected, and that work will be completed this morning. Some years ago, a system of visual inspection of wagons had been implemented in the Jilalan depot as a routine procedure. Those inspections did not achieve the desired result of detecting cracked wheels, and during the years of the implementation of that procedure, although instances of cracked wheels continued, not one cracked wheel was detected by visual means. The ultrasonic testing of Jilalan wheels is now carried out in Rockhampton, where all wheels are tested prior to being forwarded to Jilalan. All coal wagons sent to Rockhampton for repairs and lifting have their wheels ultrasonically tested at that time. This ultrasonic testing at Rockhampton provides a better system than is capable of being provided at Jilalan. In addition, routine examinations in the wagon repair section at Jilalan are conducted as wagons pass through for normal routine maintenance. There has been no reduction in maintenance of locomotives or wagons in Jilalan. Indeed, staff numbers have been increased from 90 to 120. The problem appears to result from the age of the wheel, excessive heating and perhaps inherent defects in the wheel itself In an endeavour to overcome the heating problem, wheels are painted with a special paint which blisters off if excessive heating occurs. This enables the wagons with the blistered paint to be marked off for attention. I assure Parliament that all efforts are being directed at pin-pointing the exact cause of the cracking and, in the meantime, a systematic and more sophisticated method of surveillance of wheels is being implemented. Alleged Coercion of Teachers by Queensland Teachers Union Hon. L. W. POWELL (Isis—Minister for Education) (11.9 a.m.), by leave: The honourable member for Fassifern (Mr Lingard), on 27 Febmary 1985, raised in this House recent attempts by the Queensland Teachers Union to coerce teachers to join the union against their will. I would Uke to clarify and expand on a number of points raised by my colleague in regard to this serious matter. The Queensland Teachers Union is indeed pressuring teachers to join the union, and the letter referred to by my colleague is one example of that pressure. Honourable members will recall that the letter sent to non-members of the QTU by an industrial officer of that union contained the threat that the QTU could arrange for the transfer of non-union members. I find these bully-boy tactics utterly repugnant. I can assure Queensland teachers that Queensland Teachers Union representatives do not influence, nor are they involved in, the transfer of ordinary teachers. This function is rightly and properly the responsibility of regional staffing inspectors in the region. In this process, the needs of children in schools are the primary concem and all efforts are made to achieve the best fit between those needs and the teachers' preferences. In no case is any transfer arranged because a person does or does not belong to the Queensland Teachers Union, although the union would like this to be the case and has, in fact, suggested it to at least one regional director. 3974 19 March 1985 Personal Explanation I assure the House that the management of my department rests firmly in the hands of the Director-General of Education and his senior officers. Under no circumstances will I allow the good management of my department and the interests of Queensland children to be endangered by the irresponsible threats of the QTU. I also take this opportunity to draw the attention of honourable members to a form circulated recently by the QTU in its role as the State branch of an organisation that is currently seeking federal registration as the Australian Teachers Union. This form asks teachers to seek membership of the ATU in addition to their present membership of the QTU, and to authorise the payment on their behalf from their QTU dues of membership fees of the ATU. Queensland teachers should realise that they are under no compulsion to join the ATU or to allow a proportion of their union fees to be redirected for that purpose. Queensland teachers are already adequately covered by the provisions of their State- registered award and have no need of Federal involvement. LEAVE TO MOVE MOTION WITHOUT NOTICE Mr MACKENROTH (Chatsworth): I seek leave to move that the Minister for Health table the Price Waterhouse report into the efficiency of Queensland hospitals. Question—That leave be granted—put; and the House divided— AYES, 36 NOES, 44 Braddy Price Ahem Une Bums Scott Alison Lester Campbell Shaw Austin Lingard Casey Smith Bailey Littleproud Comben Underwood Bjelke-Petersen McKechnie D'Arcy Vaughan Booth McPhie De Ucy Veivers Borbidge Menzel Eaton Warburton Cahill Miller Fouras Wamer, A. M. Chapman Muntz Gibbs, R. J. White Cooper Newton Gygar Yewdale Elliott Powell Hamill FitzGerald Randell Innes Gibbs, I. J. Row Knox Glasson Simpson Kruger Goleby Stephan Lee Gunn Stoneman Lickiss Harper Tenni Mackenroth Hartwig Tumer McElligott Harvey Wharton McUan Henderson Milliner Tellers: . Hinze Tellers: Palaszczuk Davis Jennings Kaus Prest Goss Katter Neal Resolved in the negative. PERSONAL EXPLANATION Mr CASEY (Mackay) (11.20 a.m.), by leave: Eariier, in this Chamber, in answer to my criticism publicly and in this House, the Minister for Transport (Mr Lane) made a ministerial statement about the reason for the derailment of coal trains in central Queensland and about maintenance problems. I draw to the attention of honourable members that the information given to the House this moming by the Minister was deliberately misleading. Mr LANE: I rise to a point of order. Would the honourable member indicate the personal nature of his explanation? Questions Upon Notice 19 March 1985 3975 Mr CASEY: The personal point I indicated initially Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the honourable member that he should rise to make a personal explanation only if he feels that he has been misrepresented. I ask him to point out how he has been misrepresented. Mr CASEY: I indicated that the Minister deliberately deceived the House in the information that he gave this moming. In Mackay I have personally inspected more than 146 railway wagons that he indicated were all that had to be repaired. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I do not consider that to be a personal explanation. QUESTIONS UPON NOTICE Questions submitted on notice were answered as follows— 1. Burdekin Falls Dam Mr STONEMAN asked the Minister for Water Resources and Maritime Services— With reference to constmction of the Burdekin Falls Dam— (1) Are the contractors on schedule? (2) Has time been lost because of the electricity strike? (3) Are sufficient funds available to guarantee continuation of work? (4) When will the access road to the dam be completed? Answer— (1) Placing of concrete by the major contractors, Leighton Contractors, is ahead of schedule for completion in 1988. (2) Although rock haulage to the saddle dam was not affected by the power restrictions, no concrete could be batched and placed in the main waU for the duration of the period of power restrictions. Such delays can be absorbed in the program without delays in the planned completion date.