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

Senator Cameron, I disagree with approximately 99.9 per cent of what you have just stated to the Senate. You are also completely, totally and utterly wrong in relation to the inference that this bill targets unions. You will be aware that the bill clearly targets both employers and registered organisations. The bill is drafted to stop illegitimate payments between employers and employee organisations. The bill makes it an offence to both offer or provide and to solicit or receive a corrupting benefit. Therefore, an employer who offers or pays a corrupting benefit to an official will be guilty of the same offence as an official who requests or receives the benefit.

I will give you an example: payments made by an employer in the maritime industry totalling approximately $540,000 to the MUA, ostensibly for sponsorship of maritime industry conferences. The royal commission found that the payments were more likely made for industrial peace, as the company declined to have its logo displayed at the relevant conferences despite its sponsorship. In that case, the employer is as liable as the registered organisation that received the benefit. So, Senator Cameron, in response to your allegation that the bill only targets unions, you could not be more incorrect. The commissioner himself found that giving a payment and receiving a payment is as bad, and that is why the bill is clearly drafted to apply equally to registered organisations and employers.