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

I thank Senator Paterson for what is a very serious question. Senators may have seen a report today which highlights that the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, has some very serious questions to answer about the time when he wore three hats: (a) as a director of AustralianSuper; (b) as National Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union; and (c) as the Labor Party candidate for Maribyrnong back in 2007.

While Mr Shorten was wearing these three hats there was a trail of money that flowed between the three organisations. While Mr Shorten was a director of AustralianSuper, they made a $27,500 donation to the Australian Workers' Union—the union of which Mr Shorten was the then national secretary. Around the same time, the AWU made a $25,000 donation to Mr Shorten's campaign as Labor candidate for Maribyrnong. What a coincidence! Mr Shorten holds positions in three separate organisations and money is changing hands, very seriously, between all three of them.

Mr Shorten now has some very serious questions to answer, not just to the Australian people but also to the members of the AWU and AustralianSuper: what money exactly changed hands, and why? Because, when it comes to transparency, that is something which each and every one of us in this chamber should support. We need to ensure, as parliamentarians, that the people presiding over these savings are acting solely in the interests of the hardworking members and not in the interests of union officials, political candidates or anyone else—especially when you are wearing all three of those hats.