Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Tangney for his question and I can tell him that we are introducing a Registered Organisations Commission, because Australia needs an honest union movement so that hardworking Australians have a growing, productive economy based on knowing that they can have faith and confidence in the honest union leaders who represent them.

The evidence that this Registered Organisations Commission is needed is mounting every day. The member for Tangney might like to know in fact that just last Friday, unfortunately, a former secretary of the National Union of Workers, a close friend of one of the members in this House, and a former accounts manager of the National Union of Workers were arrested on 172 fraud charges involving the alleged theft of $870,000 from their hardworking members—172 fraud charges between two former union leaders of the National Union of Workers, totalling $870,000 in alleged fraud against hardworking Australians. We on this side of the House want to eradicate that kind of practice. The Registered Organisations Commission will help that happen.

And who is against it? In fact, some of the expenses that were being used by one of these alleged fraudsters would certainly make the former member of this House Craig Thomson blush.

See this speech in context