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

Let's just put the Building and Construction Industry (Restoring Integrity and Reducing Building Costs) Bill 2024 into context today. And the context we need to put it into is in the headlines of newspapers across Australia in relation to what we have known for a very, very long time about the CFMEU—the bullying, the thuggery and the intimidation on building and construction sites across Australia and the additional moneys, up to 30 per cent in fact, that taxpayers across Australia have been paying for a very long time now for publicly funded infrastructure. This includes roads, it includes hospitals and it includes schools.

When you pay more for publicly funded infrastructure, the flow-on effect is that it flows into civil construction. And guess what? Because of the actions of the most militant union in Australia—that's not me speaking; that's the High Court of Australia—condoned every step of the way and facilitated by the Australian Labor Party, and we'll talk about the money that has flowed directly from the most corrupt union in Australia through to the Australian Labor Party in particular under the Prime Minister, Mr Albanese, you can see why the reintroduction of the tough cop on the beat, the building watchdog, is required.

These are just some of the headlines in the last two weeks. 'CFMEU administrator says union's woes "worse than reported"'. 'CFMEU administrator moves for "clean sweep" of union super fund directors at Cbus'—and just on that, let's all remember what Cbus is. It is a superannuation fund that looks after its members' money. The article this morning by Ewin Hannan should worry every single member of any super fund that the CFMEU have anything to do with. The transferring of in excess of $3 million of members' funds to pay for legal fees of a union official—is that some type of joke? The bad news is that, no, it's not; it happens to be the reality.

Another headline is 'CFMEU deal puts the union in bed with bikies and the underworld: An investigation reveals the relationships that have vaulted companies with links to criminals into favoured positions on the nation's building sites.' Again, we've known that for a long time, after the Cole royal commission and the Heydon royal commission and after headline after headline and after Federal Court case after Federal Court case—and a High Court case as well!

Anyone who says they were not aware of this type of behaviour either has had their head in the sand or, quite frankly, was condoning and, indeed, facilitating it. Even Sally McManus—my understanding is Sally's having a hard time at the moment—had to come out and say, 'Self-serving CFMEU leaders ruined the union.' Another headline is 'Allan, Albanese told of union thuggery in 2022'. I think that's a slight 'unexaggeration' actually, because they've known of it and, as I said, have condoned and facilitated this behaviour for a very, very long time.

But what does the bill do today? We, as a coalition, are moving to reintroduce the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which, even in its previous form, former Labor Prime Ministers Rudd and Gillard understood needed to be in place. In other words, the behaviour of the CFMEU in the construction industry was so bad that even former Labor governments recognised that there was a need for a building watchdog. We want to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission's powers to enforce workplace laws in the building and construction industry.

On any analysis, what we have seen over the past couple of months shows that the decision by Mr Albanese to hand the construction sector over to John Setka, the former head of the CFMEU, on a platter as the first item of business for his government back in 2022 has been an unmitigated disaster. Why, though, do you think Mr Albanese, as Prime Minister of this country, would take such a step when construction industry participant after construction industry participant said, 'Please don't, because, if you do, you are going to expose us even further to bullying, thuggery and intimidation on construction sites across Australia.'

The Labor Party can try to deny their links to the CFMEU all they like but the evidence speaks louder than anything the Australian Labor Party will ever say. Since Mr Albanese became the Labor leader—again, they can deny this all they like—the fact of the matter is, and the evidence clearly shows, that the Labor Party have received more than $6.2 million in donations directly from the most corrupt union in Australia, a union that we know is in bed with bikies and the underworld.

Seriously, you would almost think that this is some type of TV script, because you cannot believe that an alternative party of government, the Australian Labor Party, now in government, would have condoned and facilitated this type of behaviour. But, let's face it, the millions of dollars—and we're still waiting to find out whether or not the money is actually clean money; I have my doubts about whether or not this money that has gone directly into the Australian Labor Party is even clean money—the $6.2 million that Mr Albanese, as the Labor leader and then the Prime Minister, has conveniently accepted on behalf of the Australian Labor Party speaks volumes.

Then you also have to put it into the context of the union movement. Many Australians won't know that since 2007 the union movement in Australia has given directly to the Australian Labor Party in excess of $100 million. That's since 2007. I'm hearing that Mr Albanese has got a few problems at the moment, because, you see, I'm told that Labor don't actually know how to fundraise because they've never had to fundraise. They just put out their hand and the union movement gives them the money. Now that that has dried up, the Australian Labor Party are facing their reality, and it is: not many like you, not many like your policies and not many want to support you. Money speaks louder than anything that Mr Albanese or the Australian Labor Party will ever say.

They like to run around saying that they can't support the reintroduction of the tough cop on the beat and the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission because 'it was a dismal failure and ineffective at bringing the issues of criminality and corruption that surfaced in Nick McKenzie's investigative report to the forefront'. The first point I would make is this: the Australian Labor Party, when they were in opposition, fought the coalition, which went to a double dissolution election to 2016 because we were so committed to cleaning up the construction industry in Australia and ensuring that mum and dad Australia—the Australian taxpayers, because it's their money that's used on publicly funded infrastructure—were not being ripped off by the Australian Labor Party and the CFMEU.

We were returned to office, and we did stand up the Australian Building and Construction Commission. In fact, I was the minister at the time. Let me assure you, the Australian Labor Party fought us every single step of the way. This was despite the overwhelming evidence. Again, this is not me speaking, there was evidence. Everybody knows about it because the court cases are on the public record. Since 2003, the CFMEU and its officials have broken workplace laws on more than 2,600 occasions. Seriously—can you imagine someone in the corporate world breaching the corporations law in excess of 2,600 occasions? After one breach the Labor Party would be calling for their head, let alone after 2,600 breaches. The CFMEU have been involved in approximately 213 proceedings and they have been penalised other courts.

The Australian Labor Party like to say that the ABCC went after the CFMEU, but the problem with that is it's not backed up by the evidence. All the ABCC was able to do is bring a case before the court. The courts of Australia, the independent judiciary, then adjudicated based on the evidence. In over 91 per cent of the cases that the Australian Building and Construction Commission brought before the courts of Australia, the courts actually found in favour of it and against the CFMEU. In fact, since 2003, the CFMEU has been penalised over $24 million by the independent judiciary in Australia. So when Labor stand up and say that the ABCC was a dismal failure, that is a reflection, quite frankly, on the independent judiciary and the fact that it found the CFMEU had breached workplace laws on more than 2,600 occasions. It is little wonder, based on the ABCC's exemplary track record, that John Setka has from day one argued that it needed to be abolished. Let's be honest, the ABCC was getting in the way of his business model.

But the other important reason that you want law and order on building sites in Australia is that mum and dad Australians are paying more for the cost of their infrastructure. On what planet does a government—or the then opposition—sit back, knowing full well that publicly funded infrastructure in Australia is costing up to 30 per cent more than it should, and say that is okay? We are talking hospitals, roads and schools. We're in a housing crisis in Australia at the moment, with the flow-on effect that has on what Australians have to pay for houses. On what planet do you sit back and say that is okay? Quite frankly, the only reason you do that is that you are on the take. It doesn't matter what the Australian Labor Party says; the donations records show money flows directly from the most corrupt union in Australia, the CFMEU—with bikies and the underworld—to Labor. You couldn't script this if you tried. This is the reality of life in Australia under the Australian Labor Party. There have been $6.2 million of donations made since Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, became the Labor leader and there has been $100 million from the union movement since 2007. It's pretty obvious why the Australian Labor Party have continued to turn a blind eye.

Well, guess what? We say no more. The Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, has made it very clear. It's pretty obvious the Australian Labor Party won't stand up for the Australian taxpayer. It's pretty obvious that the Australian Labor Party are quite happy to let John Setka still turn up to building sites across Australia. They're quite happy for Zach Smith to turn up and tell people he's still running the CFMEU. They will do nothing and I can't wait to hear their speeches today justifying, but not based on evidence, why they will not be supporting the reintroduction of the tough cop on the beat when stakeholder after stakeholder have said it is required. This bill is a test and, if Mr Albanese refuses to support it, it will show the Australian people he is very much still in the pocket of the CFMEU.