Download Fragment

Monday, 19 September 2011
Page: 10435

Mr KATTER (Kennedy) (11:02): I want to pay tribute to the United Firefighters Union of Australia. Unionism is something that seems to be maligned almost continuously in the media throughout Australia, and I am sure that the corporate owners of the media think it is a good idea to have no unions so they do not have to pay anyone very much money. In this case, I was a very reluctant starter. Staff had to sit me down and bang me on the head with the statistics. The firefighters union put forward a very professionally prepared brief and they had unassailable statistics. Clearly the incidence of cancer in firefighters was way out of proportion with that of the rest of the population. We know, of course, that certain chemicals are carcinogenic and breathing them can lead to cancer—as I have said many times in this House in relation to exhaust fumes from motorcars.

Before we had effective unionism in this country, one in 31 of us went down the mines, and this was really a mining and, to a lesser extent, a shearing country. All we had in the 1890s and 1900s was our mining industry. The one in 31 of us that went down the mines died down the mines or died the terrible death from 'miner's titus' when they came up. Humphrey McQueen and his social sketches of Australia went into the fact that everyone that worked for over two years digging the sewerage ditches in Sydney died of miner's titus. So we know that there are certain chemicals that, if they are breathed in, will tend to cause cancer. The firefighters union have made their case very professionally, and today we see again the value of trade unionism, as we saw before the start of last century.

I am very, very proud of the fact that my great-grandad put £3,000 behind the strike fund in the 1890s. In terms of today's money, £3,000 is nearly $1 million. All right, he was very wealthy but, at the end of the day, he was a storekeeper in Charters Towers—albeit Charters Towers was bigger than Brisbane in those days—and he made the decision to isolate himself socially from so many of the rich and socially prominent people in the community, not that that would have worried him. He is in the history books as backing that, and I am very proud to say that it is a tradition that our family have upheld for many, many years and I hope will continue in the future.

In backing up the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011 moved by the honourable member, I praise him for his work here. I also praise the members from the Liberal Party and Labor Party who have supported this legislation.

The fact is that, if you work as a fireman, you will breathe in fumes that will tend to give you cancer. You will have a far greater chance of contracting cancer than anyone else in society today. These people risk their lives. I think all of us watched the footage of 7-11, which probably brought out most graphically how these people did not think, they looked neither right nor left—they just went in and did their duty, and many of them died. Many of our firefighters in Australia have also died—maybe in less huge, but in very similar, conditions. So we pay them a great tribute and we also pay their union a very great tribute in bringing this to the attention of the House, and in winning over even sceptics and opponents such as me.