Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

It was by his actions, in failing to condemn the recent statements by Mr Setka in relation to Mr Stephen McBurney and his position at the AFL. If you recall, Mr Setka said to the Prime Minister, who by his actions shows that he is weak and impotent, 'Stay out of it.' And, in press conference after press conference after press conference, that is exactly what the Prime Minister did. The leader of our country failed to stand up to the person who even the courts have said is a militant thug and part of the most militant union in this country. And it then became a political problem, because not even the press in Australia could believe that Mr Albanese would take his instructions from Mr Setka, and not listen to the pleas of the low-paid women in the textile, clothing and footwear sector of the CFMEU.

We know that they are still taking their instructions from Mr Setka. How do we know that? Look at the limited application of the legislation that we have before us today. It doesn't revert to the coalition's position and say: 'Any smaller union, if you want to get out of the bigger union, we agree that you should because we believe in you. We believe that you should have the right to properly represent your workers. We believe in the right to freedom of association, and, if you do not want to be part of the bigger union, you can leave.' That is the second reading amendment that I now move:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate calls on the Government to allow any division of any amalgamated registered organisation to withdraw from the amalgamated organisation after a vote of members within the division, to ensure that unions remain true representatives of the workers they represent".

I don't expect the Australian Labor Party to support that because, again, this is a political bill, and nothing more, to clean up a mess. If you truly believe that smaller unions should be allowed to withdraw if they want to—and it really doesn't matter what the reasons are, quite frankly—because they no longer feel that they can represent their own workers within the bigger union that they are in, the only logical law to have in place is one that allows them to demerge. But no, this is a tightly drafted bill. Worse, it even has a timeframe in it, so that, if you don't do it in a certain timeframe, it's 'too bad, so sad' and you've got to stay. Shame on Mr Albanese and shame on Mr Burke. It's a political fix to what is a very, very serious problem.