Mornington electorate
Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (14:56): (286) My constituency question is for the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC. I was contacted by a local in the carpeting industry, Paul, whose WorkSafe bill is about $21,400 for the year, a whopping $10,700 per installer. Why is the tiling and carpeting services claim cost rate 4.6 per cent and the industry rate 14 per cent versus, say, the brothel and prostitution industry, where the claim cost is 5.5 per cent and the industry rate is 4.7 per cent? Why is there unfairness across industries when it comes to claim cost rates and industry rates? Paul is just one of many locals in different industries who has contacted me with concerns about this. Many of the numbers in the Victoria Government Gazette do not add up and seem to unfairly target some industries, stifling small business owners and tradies. Ultimately WorkSafe insurance costs should be shared equally across all industries. This is just another cost for many people already battling with growing public housing and rental waitlists, homelessness, cost-of-living pressures, food lines and more.