James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to questions without notice asked by Senators Cash and McKenzie today relating to the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union.

It does disturb me, Deputy President, that with that wry grin that you have on your face, I think I might possibly be breaching the standing orders, and I think that's an outrageous allegation for your face to make.

I do wish to comment on the answers made by Senator Wong concerning the CFMEU, and I take note that today in Queensland my Premier, the Queensland Premier, David Crisafulli, has made a substantial and brilliant announcement concerning the Olympics coming to Queensland in 2032. The reason this is relevant to the answers put forward by Senator Wong in relation to the questions is that the construction industry in Queensland, over the last decade or so, has suffered under a CFMEU tax. Builders in the private sector and builders in the public sector have had their costs blow out consistently because of the actions and the activities of the CFMEU. We're going to see in Queensland an Olympics that is delivered for all of Queensland, whether it is archery in Maryborough, equestrian events in Toowoomba or sailing and cricket all the way up the coast of Queensland. And it will come on a budget, because the state LNP government is getting a grip with the CFMEU.

But, sadly, across the country we're seeing the results of the Labor Party's historic but also ongoing connections with the CFMEU. In particular, I make reference to the $11½ million that the Labor Party has received in donations and in benefits of a kind from the CFMEU. It is no good for Labor Party cabinet ministers to come into this chamber and say that they are standing up to the CFMEU and taking action against the CFMEU when their party, their organisation, has benefited to the tune of $11½ million. If the Labor Party were serious about saying they are going to take a big stick to the CFMEU, they would hand the money back to the unions—and by that I mean hand it back to the members of the unions. The $11.5 million doesn't come from a union; it comes from those workers who are effectively forced, sometimes coerced, into joining the CFMEU, who are coerced and forced into joining what is a criminal organisation.

What is very sad is that every time Labor get elected they abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission. This is the honest cop on the beat who holds the criminal elements within the CFMEU to account. This is a police service to try and stop bad people from influencing unions and workplaces across the country. It is an organisation the coalition has introduced twice and an organisation the Labor Party have abolished twice. Why is that? Is it anything to do with the millions of dollars the CFMEU give to the Labor Party? It would be very cynical for someone so young to suggest such a thing, but I am going to suggest that you follow the money trail here. The Labor Party are in hock to the CFMEU.

There is no point in Labor ministers and Labor senators getting up here and saying, 'We've done this; we've appointed this KC to look into them,' until they hand back the $11½ million. Words mean nothing, but we know the Labor Party won't hand the money back, because the Labor Party need the money to run their scare campaign. The Labor Party need the millions of dollars to run their scare campaign because the Labor Party cannot run on their record over the last three years. The simple question most Australians are asking themselves is, 'Are we better off today than we were three years ago?' The answer is, of course, no, they're not. The next question is, 'Will I be better off in three years time, having had six years of a Labor-Greens government?' Of course, the answer is no.

Once we get through this election, the Labor Party will give the CFMEU a free pass, and they'll come back on board, because they know the CFMEU will give them more money to help with campaigning against those who wish to hold them accountable—that is, the coalition. Follow the money. I say to the Labor Party: hand the money back.