Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Of course, the Greens will not be supporting this bill, the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Amendment Bill 2017, and there are many reasons we will not be supporting it. The prime reason, however, is that it takes a shockingly bad piece of legislation—which removes rights from a group of ordinary Australian workers simply because they happen to work in the construction sector—and makes that bad piece of legislation even worse—makes it even more draconian.

Over the summer we have learnt a couple of things. Firstly, as if we needed any more confirmation, we have learnt that big business actually runs the agenda of many people in this place. We have seen over the summer that the big corporates have reached their shadowy hands into this Senate to ensure that people like Senator Hinch and Senator Xenophon change their position based on the flimsiest and most spurious of arguments. We have also learnt that those two senators, Senators Hinch and Xenophon, will actually wilt under the slightest pressure exerted by the Liberals and big corporates in this country. We have heard a lot about 'the human headline', but I have to say that it is the human backflip that we are dealing with here today.

This bill and sordid negotiations that have happened behind closed doors over the summer and in the early sitting days of this year tell you, unfortunately, that, if parliament legislates and strikes what it collectively believes to be an appropriate balance but if big business does not like that balance, then big business is going to come and get you. It is going to come and get you while you are lying on the beach drinking your daiquiris or whatever you do over the summer. Ultimately, it is big corporates that have reached their shadowy hands out to Senator Hinch and to Senator Xenophon and his colleagues and have got them to change their position. Clearly, neither Senator Hinch nor Senator Xenophon can be trusted on issues around standing up for the rights of ordinary Australian workers.

We should not be surprised that the Liberal Party and One Nation will do everything they can to erode the rights of so many ordinary Australians. The Liberals do not make any bones about it—they are basically the agents of the big corporates in this place because, of course, they get massive donations from those big corporates and they are expected to deliver for them when they are in this place. One Nation, of course, are the ultimate political hypocrites because they pretend to stand up for the Aussie battlers. But who can forget late last year when they came in and voted for a tax cut to the top 20 per cent of earners in this country and abandoned the other 80 per cent of workers. Again, it is nothing we should be surprised about from the Liberals; but it is also an example of the extreme hypocrisy of One Nation.

I expected better from Senator Hinch and I expected better from Senator Xenophon. They made their deals last year; they arrived at their positions last year; and here we are again with some of the biggest backflips it has been my misfortune to see in about 15 years of political life in this country. It is extremely worrying that when legislation passes this parliament it is simply regarded as up for grabs by big and powerful lobbyists who will reach their shadowy hands out to convince weak, compliant Senators like Senator Xenophon and Senator Hinch to change their positions. Unfortunately, the collective backflip of Senator Xenophon and Senator Hinch sends a message that, while the Senate may be a house of review, there are certain senators who do not take that obligation seriously and are prepared to trade away whatever they have previously negotiated. When someone comes along and tickles their tummy, they will simply roll over and deliver what they have been asked to do.

After this performance, I will not be trusting Senator Xenophon or Senator Hinch to negotiate on behalf of the people that we are here to represent. I won't be trusting them to deliver protections for ordinary Australian workers who happen to work in the construction industry. I certainly won't trust them when they say they have negotiated a position with the government, because I now know what everyone in the country should now know—and particularly in the context of Senator Xenophon, the people of South Australia should know, and in the context of Senator Hinch, the people of Victoria should know—that when Senators Xenophon and Hinch tell you they have negotiated a position and it is going to be made into law, they will be quite happy to vote against it the following week if someone in the big corporate world in Australia reaches out, taps them on the shoulder and tells them to get rid of whatever deal they negotiated. They are clearly more concerned about currying favour with big corporates and big business than with standing up to protect people's rights at work. Obviously, they will trade off rights at work if big business asks them to do it.

Unfortunately, this is going to set an incredibly poor precedent in this place, because we have legislation coming up about many important issues. We have legislation coming up about paid parental leave, child care and cutting the tax rate for big business. The people in this place, this chamber, will be making a decision on these incredibly important issues and unfortunately some of them now by their own admission and their own actions are prepared to vote one way one day and say, 'Look, it's all right; we've given the government something they want, but we have got this for you over on the side,' but then they will take way that side deal the very next day. So we do not know what Senator Hinch and Senator Xenophon are getting for the grubby deals that they have done with the Liberals.