Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am not one of those, I can tell you. I can be accused of a lot of things but that is not one of them. I have actually been a blue-collar worker. I joined the Transport Workers Union in 1980 when I was 20 years of age because I wanted to join the Transport Workers Union. Do I have a lot of friends in the union movement? Yes, I do. There are a lot of good people in the union movement, both office holders and rank and file members—my oath. But when I am told that an opposition senator thinks it is clever to wrap us all up as—my words, not hers—'operatives for unions', they really need to do their homework. I am proud to say that my wife and I were self-employed. We had our own small family business; so, gosh, forgive me. I actually worked for myself.