Government representatives rocked up without even having been given a brief about the negotiations, so they more or less had no idea what they were doing or what they could negotiate.

This makes a mockery of the “formal process” the Government promised you after the Treasurer, Peter Gutwein, refused to meet with a delegation of public sector workers – including nurses – who wanted to talk about how the wages policy is wreaking havoc on our health system.

All this just two weeks before our Agreement runs out. It’s just contemptuous at this point and goes to show how little they respect you.

That said, there was some progress to be made. The Government’s reps seemed open to finally doing something about the excessive use of fixed term and casual employees. We’re forming a working group with HACSU reps to look at creating a predominantly permanent workforce.

We also made a bit of progress around rolling out enrolled nurse specialist positions. Your employer’s reps agreed to start implementing this role.

Our next negotiation meeting is on 2 July. Our HACSU negotiating team hope we can make some real progress on your wages next time we meet – hopefully someone briefs the Government reps next time!