Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

The problem is that we have seen a culture in the Australian union movement which was epitomised by ACTU Sally McManus when she said: 'I don't think there's a problem with breaking it in relation to Australian laws.' If that is the permeating culture in the Australian union movement, what chance do we have? But it is not just Sally McManus; it is more than that because it is more endemic. Just this week, we saw Australian Manufacturers Workers Union of New South Wales Secretary Tim Ayres say:

Sally McManus was right, comrades—

we are—

not going to be cowed into submission by … laws.

That is another example of the culture in the CFMEU. The thing is, the Leader of the Opposition knows about this culture. When we talk about toxic donations, we are not talking about foreign entities that are making toxic donations; we are talking about the CFMEU. We are talking about the fact, for example, that they are taking money. The member for Griffith, the member for Werriwa, the member for Shortland and the member for Calwell—all of them—are affiliated with the CFMEU. All of them are prepared to turn a blind eye as the unions go about threatening children, as they go about threatening ordinary Australians and as they are prepared to trash the principle of rule of law. The Australian Labor Party are suckling on the teats of the CFMEU and they will keep taking that cash and remain in silence until such time as we can put in place strong laws like the ABCC.

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