Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, it is directly relevant to the question, because the reason Senator Conroy remains in the position he is today; the reason he was brought back from political death; the reason why the Leader of the Opposition won't make him apologise today is because he relies on him to stay in the position of Leader of the Opposition: Senator Conroy has the power. He is calling the tune—just like every other union leader that the Leader of the Opposition responds to, about all those policies. Whether it is the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the Registered Organisations Commission, the royal commission—the Leader of the Opposition is a union official representing union officials. He went to the AWU conference two years ago, and he said, 'I am union today; union tomorrow; union forever.' The point is, he needs to rise above his background. He could start by disciplining Senator Conroy, and apologising for the way he treated our military personnel.

See this speech in context