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

Let's start with the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten. Unfortunately, the law allowed Bill Shorten to basically negotiate away the penalty rates that applied to the lowest-paid workers in this country at Clean Event in exchange for the employer providing to the AWU a cash benefit of $25,000 per year for three years. Because Bill Shorten, the current Leader of the Opposition, needed to bolster his power in the Labor Party he was also very happy to take on board a list of employees which he then added to his union. Anybody in their right mind who thinks that that type of behaviour should be allowed should, quite frankly, hang their head in shame. This should be one of the most uncontroversial pieces of legislation that ever passes through this Senate. Banning secret payments between employers and unions is in the interests of the workers. (Time expired)