Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Listening to Senator O’Brien and to previous speakers from the government, you get the sense there is nothing more sensitive to Labor Party members than being questioned on their seedy relationship with the TWU. You always know, because the volume rises, the abuse rises. We heard that in question time today when I asked my question of Senator Conroy, a former member of the TWU. Up went the noise, up went the abuse. Even Senator Robert Ray over in the corner awoke and threw in his pathetic, outdated barbs—like the man himself, I should add. The truth of the matter is we are seeing the seedy side of the relationship between the union and the government because the Labor Party went in to bat holus-bolus in defence of the union during question time today and during this debate to take note of answers. You can duck, you can weave, you can slip and you can slide, but today you have defended the most serious allegations of misappropriation in regard to electoral funding.

In fact, Senator Conroy gave it away today in a moment of truth. He told the truth when he said, ‘I will not rat on a mate.’ Forget about the circumstances of ratting on the mate, he is not going to rat on his mate and that is the truth of the matter. That is the core of the issue here today. If you boast about and trumpet, as you do, your new government’s integrity and transparency, you would move to set up a judicial inquiry into this particular matter.

When put to the test, you fail miserably as you always have in the past. Why are we so surprised? You always defend the unions regardless of the serious allegations. You defended the maritime workers against allegations of corruption and extortion. You defended the building and construction union against the Cole royal commission’s own findings. Here you are again defending the TWU against the most serious allegations of corruption and misappropriation of electoral funds which you were beneficiaries of.