Senator O'CHEE —My question is to the Minister for Resources and Energy, Senator Parer. The minister will be aware that Minister Reith, the Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business, has said that significant safety problems arise as a result of the seamen's engagement system under which the Maritime Union of Australia supplies all the seamen for vessels which supply our vital offshore oil and gas industry. Can the minister explain why this compromise of safety standards occurs? What needs to be done to rectify the problem?

Senator PARER —I would like to thank Senator O'Chee for that question. The government regards the health and safety of workers in our offshore oil and gas industry as being of paramount importance.

Senator Cook —That's not true.

Senator PARER —Senator Cook says that is not true. When we came into government, we inherited a very serious safety case problem.

Senator Cook interjecting—

The PRESIDENT —Senator Cook, you have been interjecting persistently throughout question time today.

Senator PARER —As a result of that—yet another bad inheritance from the Labor Party—I appointed Dr Tony Barrell, an expert from the North Sea, to review Australia's safety case regime. Dr Barrell found:

. . . there are special safety problems inherent in the present roster system . . .

That is what Dr Barrell said.

Honourable senators interjecting—

The PRESIDENT —Order! There is a conversation going on across the chamber which must cease. I am entitled to hear the answer that Senator Parer is giving.

Senator PARER —Currently the MUA, through the seamen's engagement system, supplies all the ratings for the supply vessels offshore and it is important that senators understand just how this system works. Firstly, a company is prevented from engaging a seafarer for use throughout its fleet. Commonly seafarers are allocated from ports, like Newcastle, to work on the North West Shelf, often for very short periods, and they are flown to work at company expense on full pay, including, of course, a stopover in Perth. The seafarers receive more than a day's holiday for each day they work, resulting in 28 weeks paid leave a year. For each day worked, they get 1.53 days off.

Senator Faulkner interjecting—

The PRESIDENT —Senator Faulkner, cease interjecting.

Senator PARER —If you are interested in the health of these people and their safety, just listen to this: there is no adequate medical testing, which results in a compensation cost of 13 per cent of gross weekly earnings. Seafarers also get $50 a day just for being on the roster—not for working, just for being on the roster. Long-service leave, clothing and other allowances are all centrally funded. The result is that in Australia's ships 66 per cent of operating costs are wage related. The international standard is 22 per cent, Senator O'Chee. Union rorting on this scale is bad enough but when it puts at risk the safety of crew members and people who work on the rigs it is totally intolerable.

The industry safety statistics indicate that crew engaged under the seamen's engagement system on offshore support vessels incur a disproportionately high accident rate in comparison to crew members. One in five seafarers lodged a worker's compensation claim last year. This is absolutely appalling and a direct result of the seamen's engagement system. This system results in the selection of crew members who are sometimes medically unsuitable for the demanding work that occurs offshore.

The previous government received report after report on this matter and, as in so many areas, did absolutely nothing. Mr Reith has said the government is prepared to take action on a number of other fronts in relation to the maritime industry. The government is not prepared to allow archaic work practices to prevent the implementation of modern and effective safety management systems.