John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

cart their grain and cart their cattle and keep our country going, because that is what the truckies do—they literally carry our country.

Those opposite me who have been interjecting have probably never driven a semitrailer. They probably would not know what it was like. They probably would not know how to start a semitrailer, let alone drive one! They would not know how to hook the prime mover onto the trailer. Well, I did it for years. I am very proud of that. It was a good experience. So I talk with some experience, having done about a million kilometres in semitrailers myself, and I know there are others in the chamber who have done the same.

As to those complaining, I wonder if Senator Conroy, with 25 years in the Transport Workers Union, has ever driven a truck? Probably not! He probably sold plenty of union tickets for commission. It reminds me: remember the blue card? Let us go back to safety. When I first came to this place, they tried to bring in the blue card, Senator Brandis, where all the companies had to hold a blue card for safety reasons. They bought the blue card off Bluecard Australia, which was based in Western Australia, Senator Smith. Everyone had to pay money to Bluecard Australia, and guess what? They had links to the Transport Workers Union and fed money to the Transport Workers Union. Where did they feed the money then? They fed it to the Australian Labor Party to help their campaigns. That is what you think of tracking companies: 'We'll steal your money and we'll use your money for our campaigns.' That is what you tried to put through this chamber, and I was very glad to lead the abolition of the blue card.

Remember Senator Conroy having a go at me in the middle of the chamber? He said, 'Senator Williams, I'm the Transport Workers Union through and through,' and I said, 'Well, you'd better call Lifeline. They care. I don't.' And thank goodness the blue card was blown out of this place, thanks to Senator Xenophon and Senator Fielding at the time. This is what you are about: you are about bleeding money off the Aussie battlers to put in your union pocket to feed the money back to your campaigns come election time. It is not about safety. It is about the hundred million dollars you have had for the last 20 years from the union movement to fill your pockets for campaigns, which you are going to need on 2 July. But the Australian people will not be fooled. So that is what it is all about. It is not about safety.

Opposition senators interjecting—