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

It might seem strange, but I relish the opportunity to speak in opposition to the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring Integrity) Bill 2019. The sad part about this place is that we pass so many pieces of legislation but the majority of Australians have no idea what's going on here, when they should have an idea of what's going on here. This bill is a classic example—not so much the content of the bill but the content of what this government has been doing over the past six years, carrying on from the previous Howard years, when they blew up the nation with Work Choices. What they've done here is to ask: 'How can we undermine the working conditions and wages of Australians? How can we control the greater masses to do as we say? It's pretty easy. Let's put laws in place that limit the opportunity for unions to do their work.'

It takes me back to one of my favourite films. This situation is not a comedy, but we all remember that magnificent film Monty Python's Life of Brian. We all remember when the commandos and Reg convened a meeting in someone's house. They all ran in and they were all dressed the same. It was a Judean People's Front secret meeting. They started asking, 'What have the Romans ever done for us?' Every Australian remembers this skit, but I'm going to put a different slant on it. This is exactly like when we ask, 'What have unions ever done for us?' Let's go back to the skit about 'What have the Romans ever done for us?' One of them said, 'The aqueduct.' They said, 'Yeah, yeah, but apart from the aqueduct?' Then they went on. They said, 'Sanitation.' 'Yeah, right.' 'Roads, irrigation, medicine, education, wine, public baths—what have the Romans ever done apart from that?' Then one of the commandos said: 'Well, it is safe to walk the streets, and they know how to keep order. Let's face it, they're the only ones who could in a place like this.' Then all the commandos laughed, 'Ha, ha, ha.' Then one of them said: 'We wouldn't want to go back to those days, would we? But what have the Romans ever done for us?'

Let me put another spin on it. What have the unions ever done for us? That mob over there just blindly follow their leaders. Half of them probably don't even know what's going on either, the lemmings. They'll just go over the side of the cliff with their leaders. But what have the unions done for us? There is no particular order here, Madam Deputy President, because I know you know this, as all of us here on this side know this. It was the unions that first led the eight-hour campaign, where workers could have eight hours of work, eight hours of play and eight hours of rest. That's what the unions did, not the employers. The unions then introduced the 38-hour week. The unions were the ones that brought us the wages safety net. What have the unions ever done for us? Well, they've given us awards, and they are the ones pursuing equal pay for women. It ain't the employers; it's the unions. This is what they're doing for us.

What else have the unions done for us? Penalty rates, meal allowances in lieu of a meal break—no, no, stick around, Senator Molan! I know I've broken you down, Senator Molan, and you're one of the intelligent ones! You're not like the other lemmings, so imagine what the other ones are going to do! I don't blame you.