Greens back ACC retreat

By RICHARD BRADDELL

WELLINGTON - The Green Party has declared its support for the Government's bill to return workplace accident insurance to an ACC monopoly, a bill that will now contain new clauses boosting the protection of the self-employed and farmers.

While the Green Party voted in favour of the bill's introduction, yesterday's caucus decision was the first actual affirmation that it would provide the support necessary to see the Labour/Alliance legislation passed into law.

But Green ACC spokeswoman Sue Bradford said the party would have supported the bill regardless of new clauses that aim to improve benefits to the self-employed, a large component of voter and membership support for the party.

The clauses would enable the self-employed and farmers to insure income levels with ACC that were higher than on the previous year's tax return, the usual basis for income assessment.

And the bill would also recognise the cost to farmers of hiring additional labour to keep the farm going while they were injured.

Ms Bradford said the selfemployed provisions and the protection of workers during the transition back to ACC were the two major Green concerns.

But she and ACC Minister Michael Cullen differed on why additional benefits for the selfemployed were being provided for at this time.

While Dr Cullen said they recognised concerns voiced by Federated Farmers, Ms Bradford credited them as arising from talks between herself and ACC associate minister Ruth Dyson.

The timing of the provisions was all the more curious because the primary aim of the bill was to wind up the private market, with the new market under ACC to be detailed in a second bill in a few months.

But whether the changes derive from pressure from the Greens or from Federated Farmers left Ms Bradford unconcerned.

"So far our workings with Labour and the Alliance have been most collegial and cooperative," she said.

On the issue of whether ACC should be fully funded, Ms Bradford threw in her lot with Dr Cullen, who was hoping to convince his colleagues that it is a good idea.

And on the contentious issue of whether ACC premiums should be based on individual employer experience or on a broader categorisation that rolls groups of employers together, she supported the latter.