THERE are a lot of things that Janine Brownlee and Lana Cormie could be doing on a Monday afternoon, but a week before an election, there is no place that matters more to them than to be at the pre-poll station telling their story.
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Dr Cormie and Mrs Brownlee have been through every wife and mother’s worst nightmare after Lana’s husband Charlie and Janine’s son Jack were killed in a trench collapse in Delacombe in March.
The pair are fighting for new industrial manslaughter laws to be introduced in Victoria. It’s a commitment they believe deserves bipartisan support, but at this stage is only backed by Labor and The Greens.
“We need change, there’s 22 deaths so far this year in Victoria, people need to come home. Everyone has a right to come home,” Mrs Brownlee said.
“It’s not about sending bosses to jail, we don’t want people to go to jail, we want safety and more change in the workplace. People need to be more accountable for their actions.”
Dr Cormie said she would continue to campaign for the a change in the laws.
“It’s not the fight we wanted to fight,” she said. “We have realised how little we knew about the deficiencies in the area before our men died and now we feel it is up to us to tell everyone else before it happens to someone else.
“I think it’s a real shame that something like this has become politicised because I think it is a human rights issue which should have bipartisan support.”
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