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

I seek leave to make a short statement of no more than five minutes.

Leave granted.

I have to say, I don't know if I've ever heard such an ironic speech in my life. Let us be very, very clear what has just been introduced. We are here today because Prime Minister Albanese made the choice, a conscious choice, based on money flowing from the union movement, the CFMEU, to the Australian Labor Party to change workplace laws in Australia to directly benefit an organisation which has donated $6.2 million to the Australian Labor Party since Mr Albanese became leader—wow! You have got to be kidding me.

When Prime Minister Albanese abolished the Australian Building and Construction Commission, mate John Setka and the CFMEU could not have been happier, and today it's all laid bare because I have seen the legislation and you can currently drive a truck through it. We all know that Labor is not only donated to by the CFMEU, not just influenced by the CFMEU, but this legislation shows they are owned by the CFMEU. Labor is not sincere when it now pretends to be concerned by the conduct, the corruption, the fraud, the misogyny and the bullying intimidation and thuggery within this union. Only now, after 20 years—that's right, two decades—of thuggery, law breaking and corruption, is the Labor Party pretending to care about the conduct of Australia's most corrupt union, which is also its biggest donor.

Senator Watt went on TV yesterday and spoke of the CFMEU's years—I repeat, years—of thuggery and law breaking, yet for all those years Senator Watt was a key protagonist in the protection racket. In fact, not only was he a key protagonist but he also went as far as defending them, and, in fact, he was the minister who championed the legalisation, quite frankly, of this corrupt behaviour when Labor abolished the Australian Building and Construction Commission. That's right—bullying, thuggery, fraud and misogyny in the building industry ran rife because of the actions of people like Senator Watt.

Senator Watt might think people believed him when he said yesterday, 'It does not matter who has done the wrong thing. They should have the book thrown at them.' Well, guess what? Minister Watt and his government didn't throw the book at the CFMEU; they burnt the book. They abolished the building industry watchdog. They reduced penalties for the CFMEU law breaking. This is the interesting bit: they claim they've only just become aware. Well, the last time I checked, there was Federal Court decision after Federal Court decision after Federal Court decision after Federal Court decision, and who could forget what the High Court of Australia said: the 'most recidivist' union in this country and that they see fines as the mere 'cost of doing business'. I mean, you have got to be kidding me.

The Australian people are not mugs. They know when they are being blatantly misled, and for the Australian Labor Party and for the Prime Minister to actually stand up and treat Australians like mugs by saying they've only just become aware of this conduct, when there have been no fewer than two royal commissions which exposed the criminality of this CFMEU, again just shows you: Labor were bought lock, stock and barrel by the CFMEU.

Where was Senator Watt in the face of the overwhelming evidence that Luke Collier and John Setka were bashing women? That was not even enough. He still dared fight the coalition every step of the way when they were trying to put in place legislation to clean up the industry. Cast your mind back to Senate estimates. Go and have a look at the videos of Senator Watt attacking the commissioner of the ABCC when they were laying out all of the evidence, when Senator Watt was saying it wasn't happening. Well, guess what? It was. Minister Watt could not have been happier when the ABCC was abolished. In fact, I recall he was smiling like a Cheshire cat. Unfortunately, now all Australians are paying the price for the actions of the Labor government.