Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Road Safety) Share this | Hansard source

Minister Payne—thank you very much, Senator Sheldon. When Minister Payne was asked about whether certain conditions would be rolled back, she didn't protect the position as it is now. She just dodged it. So let's face it: what we can assume is that there are IR wars coming.

Before I digress, I want to go to something else from yesterday. It's all starting to fall into shape here. There was an article in The Australianand let me tell you, when I've got heartburn and I'm feeling sick and I'm not sleeping well and I want to get back to sleep, I read The Australian because it usually takes about half a page. It's one of the worst bugles in this nation. But I've got to tell you that one thing popped out in The Australian, and I'm glad I saw this. It was an article by Ewin Hannan, who is one of the better writers around. It's headed 'Employee activism scares execs'. Have a think about this: here we have a concocted bill on the premise that the unions are all baddies and we need to put them all in jail or whatever we need to do. Why would this pop up out of nowhere? I have never heard this before. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Madam Deputy President, but I'll quote from the article:

Senior company executives fear an 'unprecedented rise' in workplace activism—

we can't have that—

driven by employee discontent with rising automation, executive pay levels, surveillance of workers and management decisions could cost companies up to 25 per cent in annual revenue.

Doesn't it all start making sense? It's saying: 'It's all right for the top of the chain to be wallowing in wealth and money, but why should we share that around with the workers? So, you know what? Our mates in the LNP, we really need you to do everything you can to stop the activism, and one of the best ways is let's just target the unions and let's make it as hard as possible for the unions to go out there and do their job, which is to represent union members and those who aren't in unions.' They actually have the opportunity to be educated: 'Do you realise that you are being screwed all the way down the chain here?' And this is what happens. We all know that.

But it really sickens me, because now, in this nation—and I didn't want to waste time on this, because it is wasting time, but it has to be raised, and I could talk for hours underwater with a gob full of marbles on this stuff—we have the carry-on of the banks, while we're trying to screw workers and the workers' representatives, while we're trying to jail them and chain them or whatever we can do to make sure they can't do their job. And thank you, former LNP senator Barry O'Sullivan, because you, Sully, were one of the ones—against your party—who stood up and told the Treasurer and the Prime Minister exactly what they could do with the sycophants they sent around to see you because you were going to pull on the royal commission into the banks. And, wow, hasn't that been very interesting?

While we've got Australian seafarers being dragged out of their bunks on the docks at Freo to be replaced by foreign seafarers who are exploited—and this government here, congratulations; we love the mob at Portland, Alcoa, no problem. We find also that we've had seafarers on our iron boats. We all remember our iron boats—a great part of our history—running iron ore. We know how important iron ore is to this nation—sending it around the world. The iron boats were sent into international waters outside of Hong Kong—didn't even know what was going on—then to be frogmarched down the gangplank. This is BlueScope and BHP iron boats. They were frogmarched down the gangplank, off the ships—couldn't even contact their families, couldn't contact the ITF or the maritime union and say, 'Whoa: what the hell's going on?' Australian seafarers: out. The incoming foreign seafarers—to whom the Australian seafarers mean no malice—these poor devils are exploited something shocking. They actually asked some of the seafarers, 'Can you leave your boots in the cabin, because we don't have 'em?' I'm not making this up. I know, because I spoke to the seafarers.

And here is another example. We've got—what's the word, 'human tapeworms'?—the board of Westpac. Now, I didn't say that; that was reported in the Financial Review yesterday. I wouldn't be that nice! They're parasites. While they're conducting their illegal behaviour, our truckies are being fined the equivalent of a week's pay because in their logbook they spelt the name of the roadhouse or the town they slept in the night before incorrectly. Have a listen to this: they were fined a week's pay because they spelt it wrong. Can you believe this rubbish, in this day and age, while sycophants and human tapeworms and parasites at the Westpac bank are absolutely wallowing in wealth?

Do we hear from the LNP? 'Oh, my goodness me: how can we let this operate under our nose, especially when we opposed the royal commission, the banking inquiry'—26 times. They can blame previous Prime Minister Turnbull, but it's the same circus, with the same clowns running around. Just the ringmaster's changed; that's about it. And let me just talk a bit about the Westpac bank—this Mr Lindsay Maxsted. I make no apologies for this, Mr Maxsted: what an absolute disgrace you are. You might not have implemented it. There may have been previous chairmen of the bank and previous board members, but not one of you has the intestinal fortitude, let alone the decency, to say: 'You know what? We really have got caught with our fingers in the cookie jar.' Whether or not the previous sycophants or human tapeworms or parasites set it up, you oversaw it. Not one of you stood up and said, 'In the best interests of our customers and the shareholders, my goodness me, I'd better forfeit my $1 million plus or whatever I'm getting.' And I've got the figures here; I just haven't got enough time to read them.

I tell you what should happen to the executives of the Westpac bank. They should be jailed. We should be rushing legislation into this chamber—not to try to prosecute union officials, who have to break the law sometimes to get an outcome. And tell me which law's broken; tell me which law's not working. The union officials are getting fined. They're paying their fines; they're getting on with work. But what law is broken? None of you can answer that, because this is just concocted. You're looking after these human tapeworms in the Westpac bank. Why aren't we debating, in this chamber and in the other place, legislation rushed in to address this white-collar crime that's been operating under their noses? We'll have the Treasurer say: 'We don't talk about the CBA because that was only $700 million. They're the good baddies. But these bad baddies, we'll talk to them. We'll smack them on the wrist or whack them around the ear with a silk-scented scarf.'

I say to Australia and Australian workers, 'This is what the LNP have in line for you.' The Australian people should be rising on their toes, saying: 'Hang on, if we've got unions and if we are members of those unions, we want them to represent us. We want them to improve our terms and our conditions. We want them to do it not only for us but also for the generations that follow us.' And the same Australians should be rising on their toes and saying: 'You know what? This is exactly right. Why aren't we debating legislation'—there wouldn't be a debate. If you mob over there had any guts—and you haven't; you haven't got any decency in you anyway. If you had the decency, we would be debating laws to not only stop this white-collar crime but to actually shame these so-and-sos. We would actually pass laws that would strip them of their ill-gained proceeds that they've stolen from the bank customers. I'm a Westpac bank customer, but I'm not moving because it's the workers there that deserve our support, not the parasites at the top.

Why aren't you introducing laws in this chamber and the other chamber—you can all put your heads down in your laps—to not only get the money off them but also send them to jail? Why aren't you going to give us laws that don't stop at Westpac because we know of all the criminal behaviour that we've seen at AMP and the Commonwealth Bank and others? What an absolute disgrace you are, you lot over there. Australia, you need to rise to your toes. You need to start the revolution right now.