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

The member for Casey would have been as appalled as I was, as I am sure were all members on this side of the House, by the story that was carried by 7.30 last Thursday about corruption and infiltration by organised crime of the CFMEU in New South Wales. It was a report that should, quite frankly, frighten all right-thinking people around Australia.

A very courageous whistleblower called Andrew Quirk gave evidence to 7.30and I quote from it:

There have been reports of corruption, association with murderers, association with gangsters, association with terrorists, money being paid to union officials, union officials intimidating other union officials, union officials being forced out of their jobs and their careers and the silence is deafening.

Well, not from this side of the House. From the government's side of the House, the silence has not been deafening. Since we were elected a year ago, we have passed legislation to introduce a Registered Organisations Commission to protect good union officials and bring bad union officials to justice. We have passed legislation in this House to establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission to put a tough cop on the industrial beat. We have established a royal commission into union thuggery and corruption, and we have attempted to change the union right-of-entry rules. On the other side of the House, all of those measures have been opposed by the opposition—a refusal to cooperate; a refusal to pass this legislation in the Senate; a refusal to hold corrupt union officials to account for their actions. Why is Labor so quiet on this issue? Why did Daniel Andrews welcome back the CFMEU into the Victorian Labor Party? Why didn't the Leader of the Opposition stop the CFMEU from being reintroduced into the Victorian Labor Party? Why doesn't he shun them?

Mr Shorten interjecting—

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