Tim Hammond (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted to rise in support of the position put by the shadow assistant Treasurer and just as delighted to support the very eloquent speech made by my good friend and colleague, the member for Brand, who, as usual, was centimetre perfect in her remarks, both in the substance and content of her analysis, as well as her true Labor passion for a great labour movement that involves not only the parliamentary wing of this great party but also the industrial wing and the trade union movement.

I must say what I find really curious about this faux endearment that the conservatives have for the trade union movement is that they love to preface their remarks with: 'Look, I think the trade union movement is great, but.. .' Then they insert a defamatory phrase about a particular militant union here: 'I think trade unionism is fine, but you're all bikies.' Or 'I think the trade union movement is fine, but you're all corrupt.' It's a bit like saying, 'I'm not racist, but…' and then we inevitably know what's going to happen next—a blatantly racist remark uttered from the mouth of the aforementioned racist. It's the same here. What you find when you hear 'I think trade unionism is fine, but…' is that you never actually hear anyone on the conservative side in this place go any further as to why the trade union movement has made so many valuable contributions to our community.

It goes so much further than simply protecting the rights and entitlements of workers all over the country and has done so for hundreds and hundreds of years. It goes so much further than paying homage to the fact that the trade union movement helped create the eight-hour day—eight hours' sleep, eight hours' recreation and family time. It goes so much further than that. The reason we are quite right to be celebrating the role of the trade union movement in this country is that the trade union movement speaks to the values that come from collective action done well in protecting fundamental workplace rights and entitlements of Australians. And you often hear these remarks again by ill-informed conservatives to say, 'Well, how much can it really be reflective of either (a) the Labor Party or (b) the community at large if we see the numbers of those who join the trade union movement shrinking? How much say—

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