Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

The government do not support this motion. We raised an earlier version with Senator Abetz's office and proposed wording that would fix errors of fact and law. Unfortunately, the senator was too busy playing politics to get his facts straight or to achieve any consensus on this which is an important issue. We will not be party to an exercise that co-opts the Senate into Senator Abetz's political tactics and allows the Senate to act like a Star Chamber or a quasi-court. What the government proposed is as follows and reflects the clear and consistent position we have taken during the Grocon dispute. We proposed (a) that the Senate notes that the Supreme Court of Victoria issued interim injunctions against the CFMEU in relation to Grocon sites in Melbourne and contempt proceedings in relation to certain injunctions remain before the court, (b) condemns the CFMEU's blockade at the Myer Emporium site and (c) notes that violence, unlawful activity, bullying, harassment and thuggery have no place in any workplace and urges all participants in the building and construction sector to comply with the rule of law.