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

I look forward to making a contribution tonight to the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Bill 2013 and Building and Construction Industry (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013, but before I do, there are a few things I really want to put on the table. It is imperative so that there can be no slurs and no innuendo. I am very close to the CFMEU in Western Australia. I do not hide that. I was very close to the CFMEU in my previous life as a union organiser. To touch on Senator O'Sullivan's contribution, I proudly served the Transport Workers Union as a paid official for 14 years. Prior to that, I proudly represented my own family business as a long distance road train operator between Perth and Darwin. Before that I was a knock-about offsider company driver, so the whole lot. I have a history there.

I worked very closely with the former secretary of the CFMEU, previously the BLF, in Kevin Reynolds. Kevin Reynolds is a very dear friend of mine and has been a very dear friend of mine. If people have a problem with that, give me a call in my office—not a drama, because I am not a fair-weather friend. I do not give up my mates. I am also a good friend of the current secretary of the CFMEU, Mick Buchan. When I say that, I mean it because I have worked closely with the CFMEU on building sites.

There is this fixation with some senators opposite, particularly with Senator McKenzie—I do not know what it is; she is on a jihad; I do not even know if she has met a building worker—to demonise the CFMEU. The CFMEU are in a very tough industry. We should never forget there are not many shrinking violets in the building industry, whether they be labourers, scaffolders, ceiling fixers, chippies, brickies or whatever they may be. The same can be said for the employers. It would be very interesting—unfortunately, at such short notice I cannot share these figures with the chamber, but they should not be too hard to find. It would be interesting to see how many workers have been killed on construction sites in our history. It really would frighten a lot of people—not to mention in China. We raise our eyebrows when we hear of construction sites or mining accidents in China where you hear of something like 600 to 800. I have read different figures but I cannot remember them now. If I were a building worker in Australia, the first thing I would do before I put my boots on would be to go down to the union office to join the CFMEU because I would want the CFMEU to represent me.

I am also a very good friend of Michael O'Connor and a very good friend of Dave Noonan. If anyone has a problem with that, we will take 15 steps to right, go outside and have a chat about it. I do not mean I am going to dong you on the head; I mean I am very happy to defend my friendship with those guys. And do you know what? If anyone wants to print it up, print it up good because I don't rat on mates, unlike some people—no-one in this chamber at the present time. And did I mention Joe McDonald? What a fantastic guy. Get this down, too: Joe, you are doing a great job and you have done for many years. I applaud you, Joe McDonald. Good on you, Mate, for sticking up for building workers in Western Australia.

Senator O'Sullivan talks about jobs. Absolutely are we in it to make sure there are jobs? Yes, we all want to see jobs. We want to see good-paying jobs and we want to see safe jobs. We want to see Australians given the golden opportunity of an apprenticeship for an Australian job with decent Australian wages—no argument. But to listen to some of Senator O'Sullivan's contribution, that unions do not know how to create wealth, only to take, as an ex-union official, I take offence to that because my reputation is on the line and has been on the line for many years in the transport industry in Western Australia. I always made it very clear that unless employers are viable, those jobs are not there. I get that, as does every member on this side of the chamber in this place and on the other side. I find it quite condescending of him to paint the picture that all we want to do is to kill off jobs and to kill of employers so that there are no jobs. That could not be further from the truth. There is a myriad of other things that unionised workforces take to their members and they assist employers.

Good employers do not have anything to worry about. As Senator Back could probably tell you, if he had some issues in his workforce when he was running the Shell tankers down in Launceston, he had no reason to fear the unions. He was a decent employer. His people were paid properly. So decent, honest employers have no problem. Senator O'Sullivan's contribution makes it sound as though these builders—and the CFMEU are on massive sites. Make no mistake about that; they are not in cottage industries. These are massive jobs which all end in six zeros. Do you know what? When you are spending on buildings like the new children's hospital in Perth—I was with the CFMEU the week before last for a candlelight vigil. Unfortunate we were there because there had been a death, not on the site but a very high-profile ceiling company employer unfortunately had taken his own life. That is a very sad thing, and I do not wish to use that as a political football in any way. This is a $1.2 billion job in Perth. It is a government funded job, of course. I think John Holland is the contractor on it—anyway, that can be checked out. But it is well documented through that wonderful organ, The West Australian newspaper, that contractors had not been paid and that there was stress on certain contractors.

It is absolutely disgraceful, because the contractors are employing their workforces—the builders, scaffolders and whatnot. What the hell message does that send when it is a government job? There has been a lot of conversation about it. The government is obviously embarrassed. I do not know what John Holland's excuse for it is—I have not spoken to John Holland. But I just put this to the chamber: it is not a union site. What I do say, very clearly, is that if it were a union site I can guarantee that the contractors and their employees would have been paid.

It is all very well for the Abbott government to attack the CFMEU in particular. I have sat in this chamber and I have heard some of the nonsense commentary, and I have read some of the nonsense commentary about someone swearing at someone on a building site. Well, crikey! If that is a crime then you probably would not find too many truckies who would not be incarcerated every time they went to work. And that is understandable because that is also a very tough industry. And I mean 'tough' in terms of diligence, safety and trying to get your money out of people who are trying to cut every damn corner that they can.

Senator O'Sullivan also made a slur on us on this side of the chamber. I was actually taking some notes at the time so I am not sure if he was slurring the union movement or if he was slurring the Australian Labor Party, but I am a proud member of both so I will take it as a slur on both. He said that we know about government spending. Well, I was reading the paper last week and I saw that this government, the Abbott government, know how to spend too. There is $100 billion more in debt than what there was when they took over.

People listening to all this sort of nonsense would think, 'Gee whiz, senators are saying it; it must be the truth!' I just want to make it very clear that sometimes people are very loose with some of their commentary in this building. You can talk about construction profitability and viability; as I said, the union movement and the Australian Labor Party want the employers to be profitable. We want them to be viable. I do not know how many times I have to say that. I have never met a union organiser who has rubbed their hands together because an employer has gone broke and a certain amount of jobs have been lost!

Going back to the ABCC: I just find this unbelievable. I think it may have been in 2001, and that Mr Abbott may even have been the minister at the time, when the Cole royal commission was born. I remember the Cole royal commission—I remember it very well. If anyone was out there in construction land or voter land they would have asked, 'What is this bogie called the CFMEU? What the heck is going on?' I believe that $66 million was spent through the Cole royal commission, to find what? Nothing.

Once again we have the rerun; it is history repeating itself. The coalition finds itself back in power, so it says to itself, 'Crikey! We have some shortcomings on this—misguidance as a government. We've absolutely stuffed up everything we've told people. We've backflipped on so many election promises we can't deliver. We've got no idea, but the three-word slogans were working perfectly. We know what we'll do! We'll distract ourselves.' This is what I reckon goes on out there in the cabinet room. 'We'll distract ourselves; let's have some more royal commissions! And, crikey! Let's pick on the union movement.'

I have this very clear picture that the majority of all workers in Australia owe the union movement a heck of a lot. Now, the emails might start and I will have all the experts out there saying, 'What's the union ever done for us?' I have to say that the unions have done just about everything they possibly could to put a decent wage, respect in the workplace and dignity in the workplace front and centre. If it were not for the union movement there would not be superannuation. If it were not for the union movement does anyone think we would have paid leave? Does anyone think we would have sick leave? Does anyone think we would have annual leave? Does anyone think we would get 10 days paid holiday a year to have some quality time with our kids?

Going on that side over there, they hate it—they absolutely despise it. We know that. And we know the pressure that the government is under. We know that business is seething behind the scenes; their wallets have snapped shut. If I am saying something that is wrong, then they can jump up and tell me that it is. This is because there has not been the desire in this term for the Abbott government to take on industrial reform, 'Look—no, placate the tribe. Let's have a royal commission. Let's spend'—what is it now?—'$80 million.' I think that is what we are up to so far. Could we not build some hospitals with that—could we not do some wonderful stuff?

It is just history running itself again. Take it out and target the CFMEU. But the CFMEU will not back down. They will do everything they can to make their worksites safe and they will do everything they can to make sure that Australians are employed. I want this to be clear too: you would think that the Labor Party and the CFMEU, like the wider union movement, were anti foreign workers, because that is the defence that the government and some people like to run because we want to stand up for Australian jobs first. That is important. One of the most important things for us is to make sure that Australian kids—