Mr McCLELLAND (9:36 AM) —I rise today to congratulate a local company in my electorate, Darrell Lea Chocolate Shops Pty Ltd, along with their employees and their trade union, the AMWU, on the impressive stance they have taken on skills enhancement. In June last year the company reached an agreement with the AMWU to improve productivity and terms and conditions of employment. The parties identified key performance indicators that were necessary to advance the interests of the business, including securing lucrative export markets. The parties recognised that, to achieve those performance indicators, it was necessary to have a highly skilled and highly trained work force.

To improve quality and productivity as well as job satisfaction, Darrell Lea and the AMWU recognised that training could achieve a situation where workers were not only skilled in their immediate tasks and responsibilities but also achieved a broader understanding of the whole production process. Through conducting a skills audit it was quickly realised that employees who perhaps in the past had been regarded as untrained were actually highly skilled in particular areas. The task of identifying performance indicators and focusing on the broader development of both individual skills and skills across the workplace was achieved through leadership from both the employer and the union.

On 8 June this year I had great pleasure in presenting 130 employees of Darrell Lea with their certificate I in Food Processing. All the employees, many from non-English-speaking backgrounds, were deservedly immensely proud of their achievement. I would like to publicly recognise the work of the Chief Executive Officer of Darrell Lea, John Tolmie; the Human Resources Manager, Tom Hearn; and the encouragement provided to them by the Lea family, including Michael Lea and Jason Lea. I would also like to congratulate Bruce O’Keefe, an organiser with the AMWU, and Michelle Burgess, the Secretary of the Food and Confectionery Division of the AMWU. This local success story demonstrates what can be achieved through a cooperative approach to industrial relations focusing on skills enhancement, which is so vitally important not only to individual enterprises but to our nation as a whole.