Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For years I have been a fierce critic of Australia's most lawless organisation, the muscle faction of the ALP, the CFMEU. Recently, I've picked up an unlikely new ally: the members of the CFMEU. Sick of the bullying and thuggery of their construction division, mining and energy members want out. And who could blame them? The CFMEU has breached the law more than 2,000 times and racked up $17 million in fines. Divisions are poaching members from one another by the thousands while its leaders run personal vendettas against one another. Even their own former national secretary, who once had to take the union he led to court himself, believes it is totally dysfunctional. It appears that some of the more decent CFMEU members have had enough of this lawlessness and they've gone awfully quiet. Thanks to the Morrison government legislation, those in the energy and mining divisions have the opportunity to take back their freedom and repair their sullied reputation. I hope they'll be taking advantage of that very quickly.

Amid all of this infighting and lawlessness, the CFMEU have got one group of staunch supporters and that is the ALP. When will those opposite stop taking donations from this bunch of bullies? It's time the Labor Party showed some back bone and de-amalgamated from the CFMEU.