Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It was during the Gillard government that the Leader of the Opposition—the then employment minister—oversaw the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. This was done at the behest of the CFMEU—once again, the Labor Party standing up for the bosses of militant unions, just as they have done again and again and again. Render unto Caesar what is due to Caesar, and that is the absolute obedience of the Labor Party, delivering for Cesar Melhem and all the other Labor leaders who have misused and abused their authority as leaders of trade unions.

We are restoring the rule of law to the building and construction sector. We took that pledge to the election, and the Senate has passed the legislation today, just as it passed the registered organisations bill, just as it passed the legislation to protect the volunteers of the Country Fire Authority from a takeover by another militant union, and just as the Senate agreed to abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal that, again, the Leader of the Opposition set up—in that case, to defend the interests of the Transport Workers Union, to the disadvantage of tens of thousands of owner-drivers.

We stand up for workers, we stand up for families and we stand up for the interests of Australians and Australian taxpayers who are entitled to have a construction sector that complies with the rule of law. I want to thank the Senate leadership team, I want to thank the minister, Senator Cash, and I particularly want to thank the crossbenchers who supported the legislation, because they had the courage to do what the Labor Party would not, which is to recognise that the rule of law must be extended across our nation. Just as we expect Australians here in this House to comply with the law, just as we expect the law to apply in our streets, our towns and our schools, so it should apply in that sector of our economy which employs a million Australians. This is a great step forward for Australian families and for jobs and growth.

See this speech in context