Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am against the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Towards Transparency) Bill 2013—the private member's bill brought on by the member for Curtin. I say 'the member for Curtin' because the Leader of the Opposition was so concerned and so keen to do this that he did not turn up on time for it. What an absolute joke! This has been sitting here for a while and nothing has been done.

This bill is nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to attack unions and curry favour with the billionaire interests that are seeking to destroy collective bargaining, organised representation of Australian workers and employer organisations that advocate for their industry's interests. That is at the heart of this bill put forward by the founder of the slush fund called 'Australians For Honest Politics'. That was the slush fund created by a minister of the Crown in 1998, now the Leader of the Opposition, to bankroll Terry Sharples, a disaffected One Nation member, to take legal action against Pauline Hanson. Less than two weeks later, he categorically denied to the ABC that he had done so—and 18 months later he repeated this false claim, this time to the Sydney Morning Herald's Deborah Snow. But when she confronted him with his signed personal guarantee, he said:

... misleading the ABC is not quite the same as misleading the Parliament as a political crime.

The same man said to Kerry O'Brien:

I had promised that he wouldn't be out of pocket, but there's a difference between telling someone he won't be out of pocket and telling someone that you're going to have to pay him money.

And that is why when the Leader of the Opposition speaks you need to very careful of his words because even he says you cannot trust what he says. And he would have you believe that he is genuine with this bill?

We on this side of the House agree that the activities of registered organisations should remain balanced and appropriate and that inappropriate or unlawful conduct within an organisation should not be tolerated, full stop. That is why the Gillard government introduced extensive amendments to the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act last year to fix a number of problems, which the Leader of the Opposition left in the legislation when he was a minister, to improve accountability of registered organisations, including unions.

But it is not just we on this side of the House who think that this bill is a joke. The Senate committee that considered the bill has recommended that the bill should not proceed. The coalition senators had a different view, but that is normal. You would expect that, because they have to toe the line.

The majority report notes that only seven submissions were received in relation to this bill—this is the most important bill, remember?—and of those only two supported the bill. The two organisations that made those submissions were the IPA—and they are about as balanced as a three-legged chair—which is not even a registered organisation, and the New South Wales government, whose own legislation does not even include penalties of the level proposed in this bill.

The other submissions to the inquiry and the majority report noted that it was premature to make further amendments to the act until the effectiveness of the amendments that the government made to the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 had been assessed. We support the recommendation of the Senate committee that the bill not be passed.

We have heard tonight from those opposite, who have tried to fluff this up and say, 'It's just a little technical thing; it's just about making everything fair.' It shows the ignorance of those opposite when they cannot tell the difference between a registered organisation and a corporation. They are in fact different creatures, both in practice and in law. The aims of the two entities are different. Corporations are designed to generate wealth and advance the financial interests of their shareholders. Laws therefore seek to ensure that the company acts in the best interest of shareholders, pays off its debts, and treats its employees fairly. Organisations are established to represent the rights of their members, whether employers or employees, at work, amongst other things. Laws therefore seek to ensure that organisations advance the industrial interests of their members, get them fair pay and conditions and protect their rights at work It is a false debate, because many different types of entities in this country are covered by different regulatory regimes more appropriately suited to what they do and how they do it, whether they are charity organisations, not-for-profit organisations, unincorporated associations or partnerships, for example.

One thing that I noticed is that they were very shy over there, very quiet. They want to attack unions. But not one of them spoke about the regional community association in Moreton Bay. One of its buddies, Scottie Driscoll, the local state LNP member up there, has been found to be taking money out of that and paying his wife. It is an absolute joke for them to come in here and run a one-sided attack on unions, pretending that they are there for workers' rights. There is only one side in this parliament that stands up for workers. It is those opposite who try and stand on them. (Time expired)

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