This is part of the text taken from a speech “Reform – the uncertain road ahead”

delivered by the boss of Patrick Stevedores, Chris Corrigan and Published in the most recent Institute of Public Affairs Magazine “Review”…(Dec-Jan 2002).

It’s difficult to argue with his analogy.

“…..Australia is a country that loves its sport. We are passionate about competing on the World stage. Whether it is tennis, cricket, swimming, golf, rugby, motor racing or even boxing, we love our sporting heroes and we take our sport seriously.

Imagine what would happen if we applied our crazy labour laws , workers compensation and safety laws to the sporting field.

Picture if you can a game of rugby league under award conditions with the Industrial Relations Commission as the ref.

Everybody would need to be paid the same amount of money regardless of how good they were or how hard they tried. That certainly wouldn’t suit the Canterbury Bulldogs.

You couldn’t drop anyone from the team just because of performance. That would be instantly overturned on appeal. In any event seniority would be the overriding factor with any changes to the team seeing the last on first off principal apply. Mark Waugh might like that.

Coaches would need to be very careful that they were not bullying or discriminating on any grounds whatsoever. You’re 5 feet 2 inches high, weigh 57 kilos and want to play second row. No problems.

Even if you could afford the workers compensation costs for a business with that level of injury, no director or manager would be prepared to assume the personal liability risks associated with a business where the objective was at least partly to do considerable damage to the other side whilst putting yourself significantly at risk.

We would really only be able to play touch football and even then not above jogging pace to minimize the risk of muscle strains.

Of course, we would need to have rules that stopped play in the event of rain, excessive wind or temperature.

Now look at it from the other direction… if we treated work as seriously as we treat sport.

For example, I’ve often wondered how differently we might look at stevedoring if it were an Olympic sport. Instead of employees complaining about the hours they would be getting up at the crack of dawn to do some extra training.

Instead of being concerned about the rain they would see it as a chance to try out in all weather conditions and to adjust their game accordingly.

Instead of regarding the instructions from the boss as an overbearing imposition they would see it as an important tactical an inspirational exhortation and hang on every word and nuance.

Ever-higher performance standards would be viewed as something to be aimed for and aspired to, not a concession to a class enemy.

Occupational health and safety would not be the front line battleground of industrial conflict. Rather employees would be throwing their bodies on the line every day as if it were a grand final with the scores tied and ten minutes to full time.

The bottom line is this; under our workplace laws, you would not be able to run the business of rugby league as a business, full stop. That’s odd in and of its self. I thought rugby league was a business. That’s the irony; sport is exempt from the normal business constraints.

We take sport so seriously while work is seen as a pastime that can be regulated to the point, where many can’t be bothered or feel the need to take part any more…..”