Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my colleagues for the overwhelming support for this matter of public importance. It is, of course, of significant public importance because Australians are significantly hurting right now. It doesn't matter where you go in this country, it doesn't matter what part of the state you might come from or go into, you recognise that Australians are significantly hurting. Many would say the cost-of-living pressures on Australian households is being felt like never before in their lifetimes—they have not experienced it—particularly if they are under the age of, say, 30 or 40 years of age. If you are older than that then of course you would remember the recession in the early nineties and, for those who are older, even beyond that. But there are many factors that are contributing to this cost-of-living pressure. Of course, the government is mishandling the budget. That's why we're seeing an increase in government spending. The size of government has grown as a result. There's quantitative easing. As a result, we're seeing interest rates rise, and the cycle continues. We've got a problem going on in this country where wages are chasing inflation and inflation is chasing wages. It's a cyclical chasing-the-tail kind of scenario, and this government is doing nothing about it.

But there is one thing that is contributing negatively that this government could do something about but they have spent way too long on. Finally, we've got a bill before this place that's going to somewhat deal with the challenge before us. That is of course the declining productivity as a result of the overbearing influence of the CFMEU in construction workplaces across Australia. We're seeing the price of Australian homes impacted. The Master Builders Association says up to 30 per cent of the cost of building a home has been influenced by the undue influence of the CFMEU on work construction sites across the country.

That flows into roads and major construction projects across the country. We've got the METRONET in Western Australia, with huge cost overruns. They are partly to do with the poor management of that project by the state Labor government. They are also partly to do with the cost of supplies and supply chain issues and pressures that are on those projects. But we know that there's undue influence of the unions—the CFMEU, in particular—within these construction projects. I've spoken to construction companies. The government say it's not as big an issue in Western Australia. Well, talk to any major construction company or minor construction company in Western Australia. They'll tell you that the CFMEU is certainly alive and well and there's no problem with having a union at all but, when you've got a union that is exerting pressure within construction sites and projects across the country—and we know that there has been gross evidence of impropriety; there have been payments, coercion, thuggery and intimidation—all of this impacts upon the costs of doing business in this country. As I said, the cost of living is the biggest issue that Australians are facing. We need services that are delivered, we need hospitals to be built, we need roads to be built, we need new houses to be built, and we need new residential units to be built. When you've got undue influence—illegal influence in many cases, as we've seen—then that impacts upon the cost of delivering those projects, which then impacts upon inflation because the government has to continue to build those projects. So what do they do? They just increase the size of the grant that goes to the state or that particular project, which again impacts upon inflation.

So the government can't just stand by and pretend or say all the words that would seem like they're in touch with what's going on; they actually need to do something about it. This government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to managing this economy. One way they can deal with it is by dealing with the CFMEU. (Time expired)