Michael Forshaw (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I had intended to be generous of spirit tonight, which I will be in two or three minutes when I get onto what I really wanted to speak about in the adjournment debate. But I cannot let some of the comments of Senator Joyce go without a response. It would probably take longer than 10 minutes to respond to all of the nonsense we have just heard, but I will not delay the Senate tonight. I will make two points.

Firstly, Senator Joyce represents the greatest exponents of the ‘two-job mentality’ that we have ever seen. The Nationals are people who come to this parliament Monday to Friday, get paid by the taxpayers and then go back to their farms on the weekend. They spend most of their time—when they are not out on polling booths pinching how-to-votes—totting up how many subsidies and tax deductions they can claim from the government. So let us not hear any of this nonsense from Senator Joyce about Work Choices.

The second point is a serious point. Senator Joyce talked about people on this side of the Senate being from a union background. I say to Senator Joyce: we are proud of it, because we get to meet and talk to many more workers than you would dream of. Senator Joyce used the phrase ‘tyrannical, dictatorial power’ tonight to describe what might happen under a Labor government. I remind the senator that the groups who historically have stood up to dictatorial and tyrannical power in the world have been the churches and the unions.

Who was it in Poland that led the battle to bring down the Soviet Union? It was the Solidarity trade union movement and the Catholic Church. Senator Joyce proudly claims to be a believer, and I note that. It was not the capitalists and it was not the businesses. Who is standing up to the genocidal dictator in Zimbabwe at the moment? It is Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Zimbabwe trade union movement and also the leader of the political opposition.

So when you are going to attack the trade union movement and attack the Labor Party, understand this: there are many millions of people, not just in this country but around the world, who are decent people, who represent decent values, who are trade unionists and who stand up to dictators. Do not come into this place and traduce the reputation of fine Australians simply because they happen to be union officials who go on to take up political office. Senator Joyce wants to ban union leaders from being political representatives in this country. That is what he is on about. Yet you can stack the frontbench of this government with as many lawyers as you like.