Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

Those who run both union and employer organisations need to be accountable to their members. The current laws clearly have not prevented numerous examples of bad behaviour. Members fees should be spent for the benefit of the members, not swindled on private follies by those in charge. As a policymaker, when you have a proven fact that the laws are weak and not deterring behaviour then the appropriate policy response is to toughen up the laws, which is what we are seeking to do.

The former ACTU chief Bill Kelty said this last November:

I was always on that side of the debate which said that unions are public bodies so they are ­accountable to members …

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I wouldn’t allow this sort of industrial behaviour and the extravagant payments and expenditures to officials. Unions have to take their responsibility to members very seriously—

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