Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Actions have consequences. That's something we have to remember in this chamber as we are here debating the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Administration) Bill 2024. Actions have consequences. It was this government that abolished the ABCC. We the coalition warned, at the time, that that would have significant consequences—that abolishing the ABCC would result in more lawlessness from the union movement in this country. Now, here we are debating a piece of legislation that this government has been forced to introduce to address the disgraceful behaviour of a union, the CFMEU. Australians need to remember that it was this government that abolished the ABCC—the regulatory authority; the cop on the beat—that could've been looking at this sort of behaviour. Not only that; I think there were many in the government that knew of the disgraceful behaviour of the CFMEU, and they decided to abolish the ABCC anyway. That is a very poor reflection on those in the government, and they need to remember actions have consequences.

The government, I think, are being very creative with the truth, when they say that this bill that we're debating here today will entirely clean up the scandal plagued construction sector. I frankly don't think anyone in Australia believes the act that they've put on in the parliament this week or believes that the party that have taken millions in donations from the CFMEU at the same time that CFMEU officials were engaged in criminal activities—the threats, the corruption, the bribery and the intimidation and violence that we've heard so much about in recent weeks—are suddenly going to be the government that protects consumers from the CFMEU, because, like I said, this is the government that abolished the ABCC. Why did they do that? They did it because the CFMEU told them to.

As the shadow Attorney-General said, this bill that has been presented by the Albanese government is so weak that it itself could've been co-authored by the CFMEU. It provides the minister, a Labor minister who sits in a party room with all of their colleagues who have benefited from CFMEU donations, with the power to end the administration that the CFMEU will be put under early. Of course, the bill is silent on the Labor Party continuing to receive donations from the CFMEU, despite the obvious conflict that this presents.

Consequences have actions, and, while we welcome the fact that the government have brought legislation into this place this week to address the issue that they knew about—the issue that they themselves created when they abolished the ABCC in relation to the CFMEU—we in the coalition would certainly like to see this bill strengthened up. Like I said, it goes part of the way to addressing these issues; it's not going to go the full way to rid Australia of the incredibly disgraceful behaviour of the CFMEU. You have to ask the question: well, why is that the case?

The CFMEU's militant and corrupt behaviour is driving up the cost of building in Australia. That affects all Australians, and my colleague Senator Canavan certainly made some pertinent remarks in that regard in his contribution just now. But that's why we in the coalition want to see this bill amended before it is passed, because we think this bill needs to be strong and it needs to be effective if we are going to address this behaviour and attempt to drive down the cost of building in Australia. Like I said, we know that that cost is going up and up, and the impact that that has on all Australians is incredibly significant.

I'm sure everyone in this place receives regular complaints from our constituents about how high the cost of living is. I certainly do, back in my home state of Tasmania, so the government should be doing everything it can to address that cost-of-living concern. Again, I don't think that the government is doing everything to address that concern, but this debate today is not where I will be outlining my frustrations in that regard. I'm sure I'll have an opportunity at some other time.

The shadow Attorney-General, my colleague Senator Cash, has developed a range of important amendments to this bill that the government has presented. We would like to see these amendments agreed to and actually get a piece of legislation through this chamber and through the other place which will effectively hold the CFMEU accountable. Like I said, this bill is a start, but it could be vastly improved. We want to see sensible amendments, including that the administration that the CFMEU will be placed under must apply to all branches of that union for a minimum of three years. We want to remove the ability of the minister to end the administration early. It's important to remember that the behaviour from the CFMEU that we're talking about here is not casual disregard. It is pretty disgraceful behaviour from union officials. You only have to read the front pages of most newspapers in the country from over the last few weeks to see exactly what that behaviour is. We think that the way to deal with this is to place it under a lengthy administration, and that doesn't mean giving the minister the ability to end that administration early if they wish.

We also believe the legislation must clearly set out what must be in the scheme of the administration, and this is, again, not something that should be determined solely at the whim of the minister. This is something that should be very, very clearly established in legislation. We also want to see an express ban, an explicit ban, on political donations, political campaigns and advertising by the CFMEU during the period of administration. Again, I don't think that that is too much to ask for in a situation where the CFMEU has behaved so badly, and we know that the CFMEU is obviously, like most unions, in the business of making political donations to one particular political party—that being the Labor Party.

The situation we are now in with the CFMEU and the need to pass this legislation are direct results of the actions of the Albanese government, as I said in my initial remarks, and also of choices made by Prime Minister Albanese, who I think has shown real weakness on this particular issue. The government, in introducing this legislation, is trying to desperately fix a mess that it created. Like I said, actions have consequences. But this bill that they have introduced is weak and needs to be strengthened to ensure that Australia is protected from lawless thugs and corrupt union officials.

The Albanese government was warned that this would happen. We warned them that this would happen. I'm sure many other commentators out in the community warned that this would happen, but the government abolished the ABCC anyway, to the cheers of their mates and their donors at the CFMEU. Prime Minister Albanese made the choice to change workplace laws in Australia to directly benefit an organisation which has donated $6.2 million to the Australian Labor Party since he became the leader. Of course, that organisation is the CFMEU.

The CFMEU knew, and the Labor Party also knew, that, by abolishing the ABCC, the Prime Minister and the government were giving effective control of the construction sector in this country to the CFMEU and its militant union officials. Frankly I imagine the $6.2 million that has been donated by the CFMEU to the Labor Party since Prime Minister Albanese has been leader would have paid a very handsome dividend for them. They won the last election.

Unfortunately, for this, all Australians are paying the price. As a result of the Prime Minister's decision to abolish the ABCC, and this government's decision to abolish it, we have seen criminal activity, threats, corruption, bribery, intimidation, violence, bullying, standover tactics, misappropriation of funds and other accusations of lawlessness by the CFMEU in the construction sector. As I said, you only have to look at a newspaper anywhere in this country at the moment to read these reports for yourself.

The CFMEU construction division were undoubtedly bad before but under Albanese they have taken their lawless activities to a whole new level. Labor's open support for its CFMEU donors means Australian taxpayers are paying 30 per cent more on major projects, as my colleague Senator Canavan was saying. This has an effect on every taxpayer in Australia. The cost of construction is going up so significantly and, in some way, shape or form, that does hit everybody's back pockets. It particularly hits your back pocket if you're trying to build something at the moment. The government support for the CFMEU is a direct hit to the hip pockets of Australian families struggling with the cost of living. As I said earlier, I and many of my colleagues—all of my colleagues, I think—are completely unconvinced that the government is taking the cost-of-living crisis seriously. But certainly, in the way that they have sought to address concerns with the CFMEU through this legislation here today, I think that inability to take this issue seriously is on full display.

We are glad that the government has introduced this bill to the parliament this week because we do need to clean up this government's mess. We do need to ensure that the CFMEU is dealt with appropriately. But this is a mess of the government's own making. This is a mess that has occurred because the government has not been happy to take a strong hand when it comes to the union movement. It has abolished the ABCC, which was the cop on the beat, the authority that had the power to stop this sort of behaviour from occurring.

Whether it is because they have rushed to get this legislation in here, whether it is because they are still taking the calls of their friends in the CFMEU, the legislation that the government have introduced is a start but it is certainly not enough to appropriately deal with the disgraceful behaviour of the CFMEU. So we in the coalition will be moving a series of amendments when this bill goes into committee stage, some of which I have referenced, not foreshadowed, in my contribution here today and we certainly hope that the government will agree to strengthen this bill.

We certainly hope that the government will realise they need to take this issue seriously when cleaning up their own mess and agree to the amendments we are proposing, because, yes, this is about ensuring that the CFMEU is held to account for its disgraceful behaviour. I know the overwhelming majority of Australians want to see the CFMEU held to account for its disgraceful behaviour. But this is also about dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, dealing with the rising construction costs and recognising that part of those rising costs are as a result of the behaviour of unions like the CFMEU. So we will be moving amendments in the committee stage, and I certainly hope that the government is open to considering those amendments, but we will have to see what happens when this bill goes into committee later on today if not tomorrow.