Issue No 97 | 25 May 2001 | |
NewsSpotlight on HIH’s WorkCover Link
Failed insurer HIH's role in the push to privatise the state's WorkCover scheme should be referred to the Royal Commission into the nation's largest ever corporate collapse. NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Costa has made the call, saying it was only trade union pressure that prevented the Carr Government going down a track that would have cost the WorkCover scheme a further $800 million. Privatisation of the workers compensation scheme was a key recommendation of a 1997 inquiry into the workers compensation system by KPMG's Richard Grellman. After the report was handed down, the Carr Government placed privatization into legislation to take affect from October 1998. But concerns raised through the Work Compensation Advisory Council forced the government to amend that legislation, taking out the enactment date to give the Minister discretion on when privatization should occur. Throughout this period, members of the Advisory Council have told Workers Online they were lobbied furiously by the insurance industry, most notably HIH and FAI, with Ray Williams taking a personal role. "It appears HIH was banking on getting a slice of the WorkCover business," a source has told Workers Online. "We are just lucky we convinced the government to delay privatization." The Labor Council is calling on the Carr Government to repeal the legislation giving the NSW Minister for Industrial Relations the right to privatize the workers compensation scheme Costa says the repeal of private underwriting should be added to amendments to the workers compensation legislation going before the State Parliament in the current session of Parliament.
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Interview: The Big Bribe ACTU president Sharan Burrow emerges from the Federal Budget lock-up to ask where is the Howard Government’s vision for the future? Compo: Where To Now? As the dust settles in the WorkCover war, we look at what's been achieved and what still needs to be resolved. Unions: The Real Big Brother Have you ever got the feeling someone is watching you? If you work in one of the 4000 Call Centres in Australia then you’re probably right. International: The Not-So Shakey Isles NZ Council of Trade Union secretary Paul Goulter looks at life for the workers under a Labour Government. Corporate: BHP: The Bit Australian The BHP Billiton merger was an act of corporate tyranny. And, as Zoe Reynolds report, humanity does not figure on a corporate balance sheet. History: A Proud Tradition of Mediocrity Budgets always generate hype and a media circus, especially in the lead up to elections. This one is no exception and the Coalition consistency in panic and lack of ideas is reassuring in its lack of ideas. Review: Ideologically Sound Mark Hebblewhite trawls through the CD rack to dispel the notion that there's no politics left in pop. Satire: HIH Recovers Own Losses The collapsed insurance company HIH has lodged a claim with another insurer to be reimbursed for its $4 billion loss.
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