Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the reference of housing projects and programs in Australia to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee. Before I do that, I would like to thank my colleagues Senators McKenzie and Cash for bringing this very important motion to the Senate today as outlined also by Senator Bragg. It is important for a number of reasons but particularly as we have all watched with great shock and varying levels of surprise at the level of criminal conduct within the CFMEU. I think that has struck all of us here.

Quite rightly, the government has conceded to the opposition's amendments to the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Administration) Bill 2024 to put the union into administration and stamp out this criminal behaviour. That is absolutely the right thing to do, and I commend the government for doing that. But, if anything, the recent reports have demonstrated the critical need to ascertain how far this criminal activity has spread and if it has compromised the incredible amount of taxpayer funds that go into construction, housing and infrastructure projects across our country. That's why I'm glad that Senators McKenzie and Cash have brought forward this reference, because we absolutely need to get to the bottom of the issue and know whether taxpayer funds have been misused in this criminal behaviour, whether taxpayer funds have facilitated any criminal behaviour and how much trust the people of Australia can have in these significant projects and programs.

This motion gets to the heart of that problem. Clause (a) will assess the adequacy of the Commonwealth's regulatory framework in preventing and addressing corruption, bullying and standover and other intimidatory tactics in the building and construction industry. This is such an important issue to look into, particularly given the matter that we heard about of the young man who died recently. We need to ensure that young people, all people, on these sites are protected and that taxpayer funds are in no way associated with practices that cause harm.

Clause (b) will address any practices or arrangements that can discriminate or have the effect of discriminating against persons, classes of employees or subcontractors. This is particularly relevant given the practices of the CFMEU that we've learned of, whereby they target small businesses, suppliers and contractors on their sites—those that aren't unionised. People should have the right to choose whether they join a union. It should be okay to join a union or okay not to join a union. Your small business should not be crushed because you have chosen not to join a union or your workers have chosen not to join a union.

Clause (c) will look at any connections between the CFMEU and the decline productivity and the escalating costs of infrastructure in Australia, including housing, which was clearly outlined by my colleague Senator Bragg. This is particularly important given the skyrocketing costs of doing business that we have seen over the last couple of years and, unfortunately, the homegrown inflationary crisis under this government. There is no doubt in my mind that the actions of the CFMEU have contributed to declining productivity and increasing costs of building, and we must have a serious inquiry to establish this. We need to understand how deeply the consequences of their bullying and intimidating practices on Australian worksites have impacted not only our housing crisis but our rental crisis and how that spreads out into the broader cost-of-living crisis.

Clause (d) will look at the impact of misconduct on construction businesses, suppliers and skill shortages. We need to know whether these horrible stories that we've heard are widespread and whether they contribute to us having fewer construction workers, fewer young people choosing to join trades, fewer young people choosing to participate in building Australia's future because it's just not worth the headache, just not worth the drama and just not worth the bullying.

Clause (e) will look at the budgetary impact of the skyrocketing costs for and delivery pressures on government programs, and, given the billions of dollars of taxpayer funds being spent on these programs, we must understand the impacts of the CFMEU actions. Clause (f) will look at the adequacy of Commonwealth oversight for state and territory programs that receive federal funding. That's an important issue that we need to address. Clause (g) will look at the best-practice models for infrastructure investment and procurement globally so we know what is best practice and so we know what others are doing and what's working, because clearly what we're doing here is not working.

Clause (h) will importantly look at the role of Indigenous businesses and at how to improve their role in infrastructure projects, and clause (i) will look at the need for antiracketeering laws in Australia and any other related matters.

This inquiry is necessary to investigate procurement practices and the delivery of major infrastructure and residential housing projects that there is absolutely no doubt we are in dire need of. Anything that is putting a brake on the supply of housing in our country needs to be addressed urgently, and Australian taxpayers deserve to get the best value for money from our public expenditure. Again, I commend Senators McKenzie and Cash for putting this forward, and I look forward to the inquiry.