I contribute to debate on the Work Health and Safety Amendment (Industrial Manslaughter) Bill 2024. As members have heard, the purpose of the bill is to introduce an industrial manslaughter offence into the New South Wales work health and safety framework. The Labor Party is committed to ensuring that every worker who goes to work in this State comes home safely at the end of the day. The bill aims to hold businesses and their senior officers accountable for workplace deaths due to gross negligence or reckless conduct. Despite 20 years of campaigning by families, friends, campaigners and unions whose members have been killed at work, and the wonderful Minister for Industrial Relations, New South Wales is the last mainland State without an industrial manslaughter offence. That fact alone points to how terrible the last 12 years of government were under those opposite. We used to call ourselves the Premier State. We were premier in many ways, including leading the nation in important reforms for the labour movement. While it is fantastic to see the bill in the House, it is an indictment on those opposite that we are the last mainland State to pass such legislation.

Since 2019 New South Wales has witnessed the tragic deaths of 300 workers in workplace incidents. Each statistic represents a person with a family, friends and dreams that were cut short due to workplace negligence and inadequate safety measures. In 2021 the Labor Opposition introduced a bill to create an offence of industrial manslaughter. That bill had the support of our friends in the other place. It passed the Legislative Council, but regrettably it lapsed in the Legislative Assembly. Since that lapse, 125 more workers have, sadly, lost their lives in workplace incidents. That potentially could have been prevented, had we had stronger legislation and more stringent enforcement in place. To put that in perspective, in 2022 alone New South Wales recorded 51 workplace deaths, making it the State with the highest number of workplace fatalities in Australia. The frequency of those tragedies work out to be about one a week, and as a result they demand our immediate attention and action. I turn again to the fact that New South Wales is the last mainland State to have such laws, and it is not a coincidence that we also have that tragic record of the most workplace deaths.

The bill incorporates learnings from other jurisdictions. Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Western Australia have already implemented such laws. We have had time to see what works and what could be improved, and that has been incorporated into this bill. Of all those laws, none has a statute of limitations. That is an important element. Some peak bodies and employer groups have pushed back on the legislation, including on the issue of a statute of limitations. It is important that this offence is available forever. With some tragic incidents, such as a building, scaffolding or bridge collapse, the facts are not known for many years. That is why it is important that there is no statute of limitations for the new offence. Additionally, the bill aligns with the recommendations from the Boland Review of model work health and safety laws, which highlighted the need for stronger deterrents to prevent workplace deaths.

The bill has several key elements. Firstly, it makes it a crime for business operators and officers to fail grossly in their health and safety duties, causing death. That offence can include fines of up to $20 million or 25 years imprisonment, with no time limit for prosecution, as I mentioned. The offence applies to a person conducting a business or undertaking, or an officer of a business or an undertaking. That ensures that those with the power to influence workplace safety are held accountable. There has been much talk in the media and the other place this week about my role as a director. In my time as a director, I have taken work health and safety extremely seriously, and it is incumbent on anyone who holds a similar position in any organisation to do the same.

The bill clarifies that volunteers will not be liable under the industrial manslaughter offence, which is an important carve out. However, they may still be subject to manslaughter charges under the Crimes Act. A specialised unit within the DPP will handle the cases. Proceedings for an industrial manslaughter offence may be commenced at any time after the commission of the offence and will not be subject to a limitation period. That is all very technical and legalistic, but what matters is the bill will change people's lives. I reflected on that at the beginning of my speech, when I referenced the number of people who have lost their lives due to workplace accidents and the fact that families and friends will never see their loved ones come home from their job again. I now reflect on a couple of real-life examples to show how important it is that we pass the legislation.

A number of my colleagues have spoken about the incident in April 2019 involving Christopher Cassaniti, who was 18 years old when, on a construction site in Macquarie Park, there was a collapse of nine floors of scaffolding. The company was found to be grossly negligent in overloading the scaffolding and ignoring safety warnings. However, the penalty was only $2 million, which is effectively a slap on the wrist and which Christopher's family has had to live with since that tragic incident. Another incident occurred in May 2021 in Hurstville, where a 23-year-old scaffolding labourer fell to his death. The incident also caused injuries to two pedestrians and another worker. Both cases reflect a pattern of disregard for safety that must be addressed with strong legal repercussions. This is no reflection on the particulars of those incidents, but in my neck of the woods where there is a lot of building and construction, some building practices are effectively seeing cutting corners and fines as a cost of doing business. We cannot develop that kind of culture in this State for something so final and serious as workplace deaths.

In conclusion, the Labor Government is committed to addressing this issue head-on by introducing the legislation. Our proposed legislation is in no way about targeting businesses unfairly. It is about ensuring that those in positions of power take their responsibilities seriously. It aims to create a safer working environment by fostering a culture of safety, accountability and justice for the victims of workplace fatalities. The penalties will serve as a serious and crucial deterrent against unsafe work practices and ensure that businesses prioritise safety and prevent the devastating consequences of negligence.

Some members who contributed to this debate said that they hope we never have to use these laws, and I echo that. We do not want to use these laws, but we hope that they will act as a serious deterrent and that the scourge that is workplace deaths caused by gross negligence is never seen again in this State. By holding employers accountable and imposing severe penalties, we will save lives and foster a culture of safety. The memories of those we have lost will be honoured when we ensure that their deaths will lead to meaningful change, make our workplaces safer and prevent future tragedies from occurring.

I echo the words of other members in commending the amazing work of the Minister for pushing this bill through. The amount of work and the time that the Minister has spent working on this and other industrial relations reforms is an inspiration to every single one of us newbie members from the class of 2023. The fact that the Minister has fought as hard and as long as she has is a testament to her strength. As I said, the Minister is an inspiration to us all. I commend the bill to the House.