Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Will the Minister update the House on the steps the government has taken to protect Australian families from dangerous visa holders? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question and for the hard work he does in his electorate of Flynn. As all Australians know, we've been able to stop boats and stop the drownings at sea, and get children out of detention centres and close 17 detention centres, and in securing our borders we've now turned our attention to making sure that we can cancel visas of criminals onshore who have committed serious offences against Australian citizens. We don't want people coming to our country who are going to victimise Australians. We don't want people coming to our country who are going to involve themselves in criminal activity.

One of the areas of concentration for us has been the cancellation of the visas of outlaw motorcycle gang members who are here as noncitizens. I can update the House today and say that so far we've cancelled 181 of those visas. It's important for a number of reasons. One of the principal activities of members of outlaw motorcycle gangs is the importation and distribution of the horrendous drug ice—a scourge right across the country, but in particular in regional areas.

One of the other main areas of endeavour for outlaw motorcycle gang members is to work in conjunction with members of the CFMEU. They work with the CFMEU because many elements of the CFMEU are also criminal in nature and they are involved in extortion on building sites around the country. If you follow the web, who else is associated with the CFMEU? The Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition is cosy with the CFMEU because they support his position. At the conference, he can't get his position on policy up, particularly in relation to boats—he didn't at the last conference—without the bloc of the CFMEU. If only it stopped there. The reality is that the Labor Party accepts millions and millions of dollars from the CFMEU. I notice, reading the fine journal The Courier-Mail this morning, that it had this wonderful story—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister knows the rules on props.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's a fair point, Mr Speaker, but let me read it to you. It says: 'Stop this unholy union. $2.4 million in fines, judges at wit's end, but ALP still pockets their cash.'

Nobody in this country, nobody in this place, nobody who has had any dealings with this Leader of the Opposition can trust a word that he says. The fact is that the CFMEU are tolerated in a way that they would never have been under any former Labor leader. He accepts their cash and he accepts their direction. The Australian people should never trust this man.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister needs to withdraw that last part of his answer where he said the Leader of the Opposition accepted their cash.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I withdraw.