Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I inform the parliament of yet another tragic workplace death, in Adelaide, over the weekend when Steve Wyatt was killed in an accident at the Royal Adelaide Hospital construction site. Sadly, this is the second time in less than two years that I have stood at this dispatch box and passed on my sympathies to the families and also remarked upon our obligation as members of parliament to make sure that safety in the workplace is absolutely paramount in every decision that we are making.

Of course, this comes too soon after Jorge Castillo-Riffo was also killed in a construction accident, in Adelaide, at the Royal Adelaide Hospital site. It comes after Jacob Porter, a 21-year-old man from Victor Harbour, died in an accident at the Costco construction site, also my electorate, in Kilburn. Just over the Christmas period a teenager, Travis Mellor, who was new to the workplace, ended up in a coma after working in the construction industry during extreme heat in South Australia.

I am absolutely of the view that no matter how tight the deadline is, no matter how heavy the price tag may seem, in Australia in 2016 it is absolutely unacceptable for people to be saying goodbye to their families going off to work and never, ever returning home. I am sure I can speak for the whole parliament in passing on my sympathies to Steve Wyatt's family.