Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for the question. Last week I referred to the three o'clock deadline that was coming. I made sure I got the question in before three o'clock because I presumed there was some chance, by the time we got there, there that the opposition might not vote to protect John Setka and the CFMEU. But after three o'clock came, the senators, controlled by the Leader of the Opposition, all lined up and voted with the Greens to make sure that at least another week was given to the current leadership of the CFMEU. They haven't even committed to making a decision this week. Is it another week? Is it another month? How long are they willing to do it?

I'll take that one. The shadow Treasurer is asking if we are now going to give money to the CFMEU. No, we're not. The idea is not to give money to them; it's to take power from the current leadership. How much longer do they want to give the current leadership—another month of protecting bikie gangs—

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