Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I do thank the Greens for drawing lots more attention to this debate about the concern that they're going to take donations from the CFMEU. Thank you for drawing attention to this. Senator Birmingham made the point that in the entire debate about this bill, which is now into its third day I think, we haven't heard a single Greens speaker, up until now, debate this bill. They keep pushing and pushing themselves down the list, desperately hoping that they won't have to reveal their position. It would be nice to hear from the Greens as to why they don't actually support this bill, but, instead, they've spent the best part of three days curling up into a little ball, hoping that this argument can avoid them and hoping that they don't have to take a position. Well, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to take a position. You're going to have to take a position on whether you're prepared to support the government to clean up the CFMEU once and for all, to stamp down and stamp out violence, thuggery, corruption and criminality in the workplace that, unfortunately, have infiltrated a very strong and important union in Australia and that need to be dealt with. You do have to take a stand, and that time will come when we do get to a vote on this bill, as I hope that we will be doing, coalition, sooner rather than later.

As I say, the only reason the Greens can possibly be opposing the legislation that we're putting forward is that they are desperate to carve off donations to prop up their campaigns. I'm not going to disclose the negotiations that have been underway with the Greens about this legislation, but I did notice an article in one of today's papers saying that the Greens have admitted that their concern about our legislation is:

… the fact the whole union would be put into administration rather than just the branches subject to criminal or corruption claims.

That's come from a Greens representative in today's papers. That's the reason they don't want to support it. They don't want the Queensland branch put into administration. Why would that be? Could that be because they have three seats in Brisbane that they want to prop up with CFMEU donations? Could that be why you don't want the Queensland branch put into administration?