Councillor Chris Harris

I am delighted that the City has agreed to provide a childcare facility for City of Sydney staff.  In October 2007 I proposed that the City survey staff and develop a case for a work based childcare facility.

There was a very good response from staff to the survey which indicated that most respondents supported assistance from the City with their childcare needs.  Also, half the respondents knew someone who would apply for a position at the City if childcare was provided.

The benefits of in-house childcare for our staff and to the City are obvious. For staff, the time involved in dropping off and picking up kids from childcare is dramatically streamlined; nursing mothers can integrate work and the child’s needs throughout the day; the cost of childcare will be less than that charged by a commercial operator; childcare fees can be salary sacrificed and the childcare place will be secure.

For the City the provision of childcare will enable better retention of our highly trained staff; it will further enhance the opportunity for part time employment for women with young children and it will position the City as a desirable place to work and therefore attract high quality candidates for a diverse range of positions. Read the rest of this entry »

While the Greens are supportive of the City’s Laneways Policy and are keen to see these sometimes charming city spaces activated for all kinds of cultural and commercial purposes, we do not support cash hand outs of public money to private “for profit” businesses in order to promote laneways. Such a scheme requires council to predict and fund “winners” and there is no guarantee that this expenditure will do anything other than line the pocket of a private business person.

At the meeting of the Cultural & Community Services Committee on Monday 8th December 2008, councillors considered a recommendation to approve of a $20,000 cash payment to two young businessmen to assist them to open a small bar in one of Sydney’s laneways. The proposed location of the bar is in a building that trades onto Sussex Lane from a building that has been vacant for three years. I opposed the payment. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most controversial pieces of Industrial Relations legislation that was enacted by the former Howard Government, The Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (“The Act”), should be repealed immediately. Most City councillors agree.

I asked City of Sydney councillors to endorse the Greens call to repeal these laws and nine out of the ten councillors agreed. Only the Liberal Councillor disagreed, instead clinging to an ideology that was rejected by a majority of voters who wanted to see a more just approach to the treatment of wage earners.

This Dickensian and ideologically driven legislation was bad law when it was passed and remains so today. The City Council has urged the Rudd government to bring forward its consideration of this law and repeal it now.

This is a law that unfairly targets Construction Unions and individual workers and unconscionably aligns the huge resources of the Federal Government with employers to minimise the ability of Unions to fight for wages and conditions for their members.

One particularly nasty side effect of this legislation is that it hinders access by union representatives to sites so that safety standards can be evaluated and maintained.

Construction is tough and dirty work and thousands of workers risk injury on a daily basis. Every year building workers die on the job and so the maintenance of first class safety standards is a priority of building unions and should be a priority of employers.

The Act sought control in a heavy handed way, granting extraordinary powers to the Australian Building Construction Commission (“ABCC”) that was able to target individuals by compelling them to attend interviews, divulge information and maintain silence in a manner that breached widely accepted common law rights.

The Greens will continue to pressure the Rudd government to repeal these flawed laws and disband the ABCC.

City of Sydney Motion as passed Monday 24th November 2008

PUBLIC SAFETY AND SAFE WORK PLACES (S063668)
2. Moved by Councillor Harris, seconded by Councillor Hoff

The City of Sydney notes that:
(A) successive City of Sydney Councils have been committed to ensuring public safety and safe work places;
(B) on a number of occasions the safety of the public and workers in the City has been put at risk due to unsafe construction practices on major Sydney building sites;
(C) federal laws that limit the promotion of safety on construction sites must be
repealed;
(D) the International Labour Organisation’s Committee of Experts and Committee on
Freedom of Association has noted that the Building and Construction Industry
Improvement Act 2005 is inconsistent with International Conventions signed by
Australia.

The City of Sydney Council calls on the Federal Labor Government to immediately
repeal the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 and to disband the Australian Building Construction Commission.

The motion was carried on the following show of hands –
Ayes (9) The Lord Mayor, Councillors Black, Burgmann, Doutney, Harris, Hoff, Kok,
McInerney and Tornai.
Noes (1) Councillor Mallard.
Motion carried.

Extension of Time
During discussion on this matter, pursuant to the provisions of Clause 250(3) of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005, it was –
Moved by Councillor Hoff, seconded by Councillor Burgmann –
That Councillor Harris be granted an extension of time to speak on this matter.
Carried.
 

The Greens are appalled at the City of Sydney support for the installation of ATM machines in establishments that rely on poker machines to boost their profits.

The Planning staff of the City of Sydney prepared a submission to the Senate Inquiry into Senator Xenaphon’s Bill “ATMs and Cash Facilities in Licensed Venues Bill 2008” and the “Poker Machine Harm minimization Bill 2008” proposed by Senator Fielding. The submission was not listed for discussion at a council meeting but was circulated internally during the transition period between the new and old council following the Local Government elections. The Clover Moore party signed off on the report.

Senator Fielding’s Bill seeks to place restrictions on the amount that players can feed into a poker machine at any one time, prohibits multiple line betting, limits bets per spin, regulates the spin rate and limits associated linked jackpot arrangements. These restrictions, which constitute a harm minimization approach, will reduce the “loss rate per hour” and are broadly in line with what has been the Greens public position for many years.  Congratulations Senator Fielding.

Sen Xenaphon’s Bill, which is keenly supported by the Greens, goes further in seeking to ban ATM machines from premises that operate poker machines.  The Greens support of this approach is based on solid empirical evidence that demonstrates that problem gamblers use ATMs in licensed venues at a rate that is 12 times higher than non-gamblers and 5 times higher than “recreational gamblers. 

But with breathtaking hypocrisy, the Clover Moore Party acquiesces to the business as usual approach of the City’s planning staff and opposes the ban on ATMs in pokie venues. This is despite acknowledging that vulnerable individuals need to be prevented from developing gambling problems and that the current prevalence of problem gamblers needs to be reduced.

The City’s submission gives two reasons in opposing a ban on ATMs in licensed premises that host poker machines. These reasons are that a ban would:

1 “limit the reasonable level of enjoyment from gambling by recreational gamblers”
2 “ensure that the livelihood of those associated with the gaming industry is not unnecessarily compromised”  

A recent study in the ACT by the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission found that only 5.2% of non gamblers accessed an ATM when visiting a licensed premises compared to 60% of problem gamblers.

So essentially what this means is that ATMs in licensed premises are provided by operators to feed the compulsive behaviour of problem gamblers rather than for the convenience of a very small minority of non-gambling patrons as is often claimed in justifying the need for ATMs. This study demolishes the two reasons that the Lord Mayor’s administration advance in support of their submission.

The other interesting point is that the City of Sydney does not have the power to regulate poker machines (GAMING MACHINES ACT 2001 - SECT 209) but it does have the power to refuse permission to install ATMs in a development application. So if the Clover Moore Party implements the position outlined in its submission, it renders the City impotent in the one area where it can make a contribution to limit problem gambling

The Greens will continue to campaign to eliminate government reliance on poker machine revenue, to ban the provision of ATMs in pokie dens and will continue to seek increased support for gambling addicts with harm minimization measures.

Below are Senator Xenaphon’s speech and the City of Sydney submission

xenaphons-speech-for-atms-and-cash-facilities-in-licensed-venues-bill-2008.doc

submission-to-the-inquiry-into-the-atm.doc

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Friends,

Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.

In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to Washington, and the majority of the country liked that idea. The racists were present throughout the campaign and in the voting booth. But they are no longer the majority, and we will see their flame of hate fizzle out in our lifetime.

There was another important “first” last night. Never before in our history has an avowed anti-war candidate been elected president during a time of war. I hope President-elect Obama remembers that as he considers expanding the war in Afghanistan. The faith we now have will be lost if he forgets the main issue on which he beat his fellow Dems in the primaries and then a great war hero in the general election: The people of America are tired of war. Sick and tired. And their voice was loud and clear yesterday.

It’s been an inexcusable 44 years since a Democrat running for president has received even just 51% of the vote. That’s because most Americans haven’t really liked the Democrats. They see them as rarely having the guts to get the job done or stand up for the working people they say they support. Well, here’s their chance. It has been handed to them, via the voting public, in the form of a man who is not a party hack, not a set-for-life Beltway bureaucrat. Will he now become one of them, or will he force them to be more like him? We pray for the latter.

But today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country’s greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me.

We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths. When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles. All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, “gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?” Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We’ve entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.

An African American has been elected President of the United States! Anything is possible! We can wrestle our economy out of the hands of the reckless rich and return it to the people. Anything is possible! Every citizen can be guaranteed health care. Anything is possible! We can stop melting the polar ice caps. Anything is possible! Those who have committed war crimes will be brought to justice. Anything is possible.

We really don’t have much time. There is big work to do. But this is the week for all of us to revel in this great moment. Be humble about it. Do not treat the Republicans in your life the way they have treated you the past eight years. Show them the grace and goodness that Barack Obama exuded throughout the campaign. Though called every name in the book, he refused to lower himself to the gutter and sling the mud back. Can we follow his example? I know, it will be hard.

I want to thank everyone who gave of their time and resources to make this victory happen. It’s been a long road, and huge damage has been done to this great country, not to mention to many of you who have lost your jobs, gone bankrupt from medical bills, or suffered through a loved one being shipped off to Iraq. We will now work to repair this damage, and it won’t be easy.

But what a way to start! Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Wow. Seriously, wow.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MichaelMoore.com
MMFlint@aol.com