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

He's part of the furniture—that's exactly right—in the CFMEU, who run the construction sites in Australia. Do you know why Andrew Quirk met with the Prime Minister, the then shadow minister for infrastructure? Because he was worried about his family, his wife and kids, and the threats that had been made to him—that is, if he dared expose what was going on in the Australian Labor Party and the CFMEU and the protection racket that they were running in relation to the underworld controlling the construction industry in Australia. As yesterday's editorial in the Australian said, 'The stench of CFMEU dealings is getting stronger for the ALP.'

That's the last decade. Despite what Mr Albanese says, read the comments online. It doesn't matter whether it's a News Corp or Fairfax newspaper now. Nobody believes what is coming out of the Prime Minister's mouth. I think, though, that they're going to believe Andrew Quirk before they believe the Prime Minister.

There is also the undisputed fact that $6.2 million was funnelled directly, in fact openly given, by the CFMEU, the most militant union in Australia—and that's not me talking but the High Court of Australia—to the Australian Labor Party since Mr Albanese became the Labor leader. Nobody believes what Labor is a saying when they stand up in question time and in press conferences—it's now just rolling off their tongues—and give the talking points they've been provided. They think that if they keep saying Mr Albanese is taking tough action against the CFMEU—'the strongest action ever'—then someone in Australia might believe them. Well, the bad news is that people just don't.

But you see, Mr Albanese has an opportunity to say, 'In 2019 and 2017 we voted against the then coalition government's attempts to pass legislation'—and I say 'attempts' because we did not have the numbers in the Australian Senate, by a long way. The Labor Party stands up and says, 'But you did nothing when you were in government.' The reason we were unable to pass legislation was that the Australian Labor Party didn't just vote against it but also railed against us across Australia every single step of the way. They say we did nothing. But as a coalition government we were so concerned with what was going on in the construction sector that in 2016 we dissolved the parliament. That is a huge call for a government to make. We dissolved parliament and went to a double dissolution election on two bills that, again, the Australian Labor Party, in opposition, opposed every step of the way.

The first of these bills was to make sure there was a tough cop on the beat to hold the construction sector to account, which they opposed every step of the way, as well as to clean up registered organisations. And guess what? Despite everything the Labor Party threw at us, the Australian people backed us in. They voted, in a double dissolution election, to put us back in. I was the minister at the time, and the Labor Party made it very clear to me up-front, 'Not only are we not going to support you; we are going to work against you every single step of the way.' But the crossbench at the time—and I think we needed up to 10 crossbenchers—understood (a) that the Australian people wanted to clean up the construction industry in Australia and (b) that if the Labor Party wasn't going to assist in doing that then they would need to. So, without the need for a joint sitting, we managed to get through this Senate the restoration of the tough cop on the beat and the cleaning up of registered organisations in Australia. And the Labor Party says we did nothing!

We also brought to the parliament a number of bills to keep the criminals off worksites. The Labor Party refused to support these bills. And look at everything that's currently going on within Incolink and Cbus. Another bill we brought to the parliament was a bill to protect workers entitlements—in other words, to ensure that workers' money could be used by the unions only for matters that benefited the workers. And now we're seeing with Incolink and with Cbus the exploitation of members'—workers'—money by the CFMEU. But, again, Labor couldn't have cared less. I mean, when you're receiving $6.2 million you need to protect those who are providing you with the funds!

Let's have a look, though. They say we're attacking unions with this bill. Well, we're not. The last time I checked, this is a bill to ensure that criminals are not allowed on worksites, and it applies to registered organisations. I don't care whether you're an employer organisation or an employee organisation. You should not be able to be on a worksite if you have been convicted of a crime. It is as simple as that. The law, as we speak today, is deficient. It is allowing people who have been convicted of crimes to go onto worksites. That is absolutely unacceptable. What this bill will do is to clean that up.

There is one official who is actually a convicted drug dealer. He was given a right-of-entry permit. On what planet does the law allow for a convicted drug dealer to be given a right-of-entry permit, which gives that official significant rights and privileges to enter a worksite and undertake certain actions? Well, it's the planet whereby Anthony Albanese, as Prime Minister of Australia, refuses to change the law. This bill will give the Federal Court the power to say no. This bill will give the Fair Work Commission the power to say no. Why? Because it says that if you are convicted of a crime you do not get to enter a worksite.

For those who are driving in their cars or listening at home: I would have thought you would get onto your local member of parliament, or write to Anthony Albanese or pick up the phone to his office and say: 'Mr Albanese we are sick and tired of you and the Australian Labor Party just talking. For once can you do what is in the best interests of the Australian people, the best interests of the construction industry, the best interest of the employees in the construction industry and vote for a bill which, in its simplicity, removes criminals from worksites.'