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

I thank Senator Bushby for the question. Unfortunately, colleagues, yes, I am. The contempt for the rule of law by certain members of registered organisations does go beyond the CFMEU. The current Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bill Shorten, has serious questions to answer about a number of scandals which relate to union members and the Australian Labor Party.

In October 2015, we saw a scandal where members of the Plumbers Union were allegedly signed up by the Australian Labor Party as part of Mr Shorten's local power base by paying for their membership with gift cards. Mr Shorten was very silent on this alleged process and continues to be silent to this day. But, today, we see another report where there are very serious questions for Mr Shorten to answer. Mr Shorten needs to explain his involvement with the latest cash-for-stacks scandal. A printer used by Mr Shorten on a number of occasions has been accused of creating fake invoices, receiving payment from the taxpayer and then funnelling that cash to pay for Labor Party memberships. Mr President, that is the definition of fraud.

Mr Shorten claims he knows nothing about this situation. But given the previous gift card scandal involving union members, it is imperative that he gives an account of this latest scandal involving his very own Victorian Labor Party. Mr Shorten needs to provide a copy of all invoices from the printer, where payments were made on Mr Shorten's behalf to F&M Printing, and he needs to clarify whether any of these funds were used for illegitimate purposes.