A grieving mother is one step closer to her goal of stamping out workplace deaths, as Victoria criminalises industrial manslaughter alongside the ACT and Queensland.
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Kay Catanzariti has been demanding tougher industrial manslaughter laws since 2012, when her son Ben Catanzariti was killed in a workplace accident.
Mrs Catanzariti is fuming at NSW Better Regulation and Innovation minister Kevin Anderson, who has indicated NSW would not be following suit with the other states and territories.
"Kevin Anderson has to realise that just because we're regional NSW, that doesn't mean we don't matter," Mrs Catanzariti said.
"Kevin Anderson, why does it matter what state you get killed in? Don't you care about the people of NSW?"
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Mr Anderson's views came to light after he received a parliamentary question put forward by Member for Murray Helen Dalton.
Mrs Dalton asked whether the NSW government would follow the recommendations of an independent review by Safe Work Australia, which pushes for industrial manslaughter laws across the states.
In response Mr Anderson pointed to Safe Work Australia's "Decision Regulation Impact Statement", which doesn't include industrial manslaughter in its recommendations.
Mrs Dalton said it was a "ridiculous deflection" on Mr Anderson's part, accusing him of trying to gloss over the results of the independent review.
"What's the point of having inquiries if governments just ignore their recommendations?" Mrs Dalton said.
"I'll be following up this issue with the Minister when Parliament resumes to get a better explanation on why NSW is ignoring this recommendation".
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However Mrs Catanzariti said she remained optimistic about the prospect of Australia-wide industrial manslaughter becoming a reality, especially with Victoria being the latest state to adopt the law.
Mrs Catanzariti has also recently received a letter from Attorney-General Christian Porter, promising that there will be "a lot happening in Work Health and Safety space in 2020".
"Workplace deaths are going down, and I believe it's because we the affected families from across Australia are making a noise," Mrs Catanzariti said.
"Companies are concerned and the state governments are workings towards it. They're starting to listen."
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