Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

There are no facts in this political world we live in; there are only assertions. There is no safety link between pay rates and safety. There is no connection at all. I have seen a press conference with the ATA this morning—I watched it on 7.30 earlier in the week. Those opposite are just telling lies.

Senator Wong interjecting—

This government is too afraid to engage in factual debates. It is too afraid to admit that Senator Cormann has presided over the highest taxing and highest spending government, almost, in the history of this country. It is too afraid. You see them go on television and say, 'No, that's not true; we're lower taxing than Labor.' It is like: 'How can you possibly say that? Here's a graph. Here's a statistic. Here's a fact.' They have actually spent more. As I have said repeatedly to Senator Cormann in the chamber, 'You will never preside over a surplus while you are the finance minister, Senator Cormann.' You will never do it. You have actually outspent Senator Wong, the person you criticised as the worst finance minister. That was absolutely untrue then, but you on your own test have failed miserably.

Just like the claim that there is no link between pay rates and deaths on roads, there is a claim that the ABCC does not improve productivity. Let's get to the nub of the facts and some truth—according to the ABS, the ABCC did not improve productivity as is claimed. For more than seven years, productivity increased before the introduction of the ABCC. Productivity has been higher every year since the abolition of the ABCC in 2012. I have seen the government say black is white on this issue, and I have seen it quote studies discredited by justices. It is not just a political argument—but there is no factual basis for these claims. Please ignore this report! But the government clings to it and uses it as its justification. This is a government that has no agenda for this country; it has no plan for this country; it does not have a clue what it is doing with the budget. One minute it is going to increase taxes for ordinary Australians by making them pay more on the GST; the next minute it wants to give companies tax cuts. Seriously, Mr Turnbull gave the banks a lecture the other day about their behaviour. Do you know what the consequences of his lecture will be if the people of Australia re-elect Mr Turnbull's government? He will give four banks a $9 billion tax cut. That is tough love! My goodness, imagine if he liked them. He says, 'You've got to live within your means.' I would love to live within Malcolm Turnbull's means.

The government then claims the ABCC cut industrial disputes, except that it did not. Apart from an abnormal quarter in September 2012, working days lost per thousand workers to industrial action under the FWBI are lower than they were from the start of the series for the ABCC. So productivity did not improve and industrial disputes did not fall, but do not let facts get in the way of this government. It has no facts to support its case. Cutting safe rates will not lead to more deaths on roads—yes, it will. Even the government's own biased study proved the case for why we should keep the Safe Rates tribunal.

The ABCC does not deal with corruption; it does not lower industrial disputes; it does not lead to more productivity. This is a government that will stoop to make any claim to advance its political interests. We believe the ABCC's powers are extreme, undemocratic and compromise civil liberties. Workers in the building and construction industry deserve better than this.

Similarly, Labor rejects the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill, which will place higher penalties and a more onerous regime on officers of employer bodies and unions than those imposed on company directors. It is quite extraordinary that the government will attack working people and protect the big end of town at every chance it gets.

If the government gets re-elected do not believe any promise about the GST. The GST is in the DNA of every single Liberal and National sitting on that side of the chamber—it is in their DNA. They can make any promise. They promised last time, 'We won't go back and raise the rates. We won't expand it onto food.' Twenty years later, they are back for more, and it will not end there. They want to use a tax on food to give the four big banks are $9 billion tax cut. That is what they are about. I have a very simple question for the government: why don't you just make corporations in this country actually pay the tax that they should? Why don't you just make them? Very simple choices. This government will tell you black is white. It will mislead you at every stage. In this sitting, as I said, I rise in sadness. This sitting is a farce. The government have manipulated their way to defy a democratic decision of the Senate. (Time expired)