Queensland’s Mines Minister has been accused of putting gender equality ahead of miners’ safety, after revelations the government’s coalmining safety board did not meet for months because it did not have enough women members.
Six workers have died in Queensland’s mines and quarries in the past 12 months — the deadliest year in the state’s resources industry in nearly two decades — including a 27-year-old man who died in the early hours of Sunday at Baralaba, central Queensland.
Yet at the height of the safety crisis, the state’s Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee, which gives the minister expert advice and plays a “significant role” in protecting workers, could not meet for four months because it did not have the right “gender representation”.
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Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham confirmed the committee had to be re-established this week after the two most recent deaths. The board has not met since March and was forced to cancel its June meeting, as it tried to meet the Labor government’s target of having 50 per cent women on government boards by next year.
“You have to make sure gender representation is respected,” Dr Lynham said. “Because of the significance of the appointments, that has been difficult, so the committee has been re-established just recently.”
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington described the move as “ridiculous” and “disgusting”.
“It is so gobsmacking and unbelievable that the minister would put making sure there is 50 per cent representation of women on (the) safety committee above the safety of men and women in mines — it’s just unacceptable,” she told ABC radio.
“Tragically, we’ve had more and more deaths in mines, and something’s got to give.”
The committee’s nine members and four substitute members are appointed by the minister and include representatives from the Queensland government, unions and mine operators. Before some members’ terms lapsed recently, the board had one woman member: the chairwoman, Queensland’s Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health, Kate du Preez.
The Australian understands members of the committee must have specific, high-level mining qualifications and very few women in the state do. It is not clear what gender balance the re-formed committee will have when it meets this week.
CFMEU mining and energy Queensland district president Stephen Smyth, who sits on the committee, told The Australian “common sense should have prevailed” and the issue should have been sorted faster but that would not have stopped the deaths.
He said Queensland’s entire mining industry needed to stop work for at least 24 hours to reflect on safety, and the state’s mining inspectorate needed extra funding for more inspectors and unannounced mine safety checks.
“There’s a push for productivity at all costs … and no consistent approach to risk assessment,” he said.
Dr Lynham last night announced a mine safety summit at parliament tomorrow and two expert independent probes into health and safety in the state’s mines and quarries.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/gender-equality-push-risks-mine-safety/news-story/b98bf6267f1cb7bf4c0e6519971a150a
2019-07-08 14:02:28Z
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