Even an LNP Insider is alarmed … All levels of Queensland society have been outraged by the LNP government’s unnecessary and unwise changes to Queensland’s WorkCover scheme. Concern has come from many sectors in society, even from within the LNP itself. LNP member Kerry Splatt resigned from the Party’s internal Law and Justice Committee, resigned from the Party, and recently sent this email to all Members of Parliament and the media outlining an insider’s concern over the LNP’s approach … Dear Parliamentarian, In the wake of the Newman governments new Workcover laws, there is new information. The SA system, which abolished common law over a decade ago, is such a basket-case that the SA government now proposes to euthanize the scheme. Please see the link to the article below. Commentators on compensation schemes have for many years been comparing and contrasting the sound and stable Qld scheme, with that of SA and other schemes which diminish access to common law. On all measures, our Qld scheme was until, 15 October 2013, the standout scheme in the country. Workcover Qld’s annual report released concurrently with the amending legislation was brim-full of great figures. The destruction wrought upon Qld’s scheme by the Newman government has no foundation in either economics or fairness. The threshold itself compounded by the absence of an “exceptional circumstances” safety-net available in most other jurisdictions with AMA-based thresholds, and the inability to appeal the merits of MAT decisions will mean that large numbers of people injured through no fault of their own will be left with nothing other than a paltry permanent impairment lump sum. The impairment-disability dichotomy was explained repeatedly to the LNP by lawyers, doctors and other representative groups. Put simply, those assessed with low percentage impairments commonly have injuries which are serious in the extreme in terms of the effect upon their capacity to work. These are your constituents. This clearly resonated with your LNP committee: it recommended no structural changes. The fact that the committee’s views were dismissed speaks volumes about the dysfunctional dynamics within the most senior level of government and the bullying, ill-informed approach of our Premier on this issue. Under the new regime, disputes will escalate and the system will deteriorate. As a stakeholder with a keen interest in healthy, a well-balanced scheme for employers and employees alike, I feel I have a duty to keep this issue alive, and illustrate the injustices with human examples of thresholds in action. I will be seeing these people, and their families, daily. You have a duty to pass good laws, and to understand the impact of bad laws upon your constituency. I will seek to ensure that you understand the true effect on people who voted for you last time. Qld has an opportunity to pull back from the lunacy which drove the SA scheme to bankruptcy without obliterating the rights of your constituents. This will involve proper collaboration with the QLS, and not giving credence, as the Premier and AG have to date, to deceptive nonsense peddled by the CCIQ about large numbers of people with “minor” injuries receiving payouts. The evidence, in Workcover Qld’s latest report, is unequivocally to the contrary. I resigned from the Law and Justice Committee, and the LNP, because I believe that the LNP has made a massive error in passing bad law on this topic. I urge you to consider the article below, and the merits of the committee’s views earlier this year. m.indaily.au/news/2013/10/21/beyond-redemption-workcover-to-be-dismantled/ Yours faithfully, Kerry Splatt | Principal KM Splatt & Associates
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 09:08:35 +0000
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