John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment, Senator Cash. Will the minister advise the Senate if there are any threats to the livelihoods of owner-operators in the heavy vehicle industry?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Williams for his question. I know his dedication to ensuring that owner-drivers are kept on the road. There is a clear difference, as we move toward the federal election, between those opposite and those on this side: the Turnbull government. We are committed to ensuring that the 30,000 owner-drivers across Australia, the mums and dads of Australia who mortgage their homes to buy a truck, to be small business owners, are kept on the road. On the other side, they are led by Mr Shorten, who has now told all of Australia that if he is elected as Prime Minister, he will 'lead like a unionist'. That does not bode well for Australians.

They have confirmed that if they are elected, one of the first things they will do is decimate the owner-driver industry in Australia. This is despite the thousands of owner-drivers over the last few weeks and months rallying around Australia and pleading not just with those of us on this side of the chamber but with all parliamentarians to do the right thing by them, to back them, to back their families, to back them as small business people and do what we should be doing as parliamentarians—that is, ensure that they have jobs. It is thanks to those on this side of the parliament, working with the crossbench, that we were able to abolish Labor's Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.

What will happen if those on the other side are elected? Mr Shorten has made it very clear he is beholden to Tony Sheldon of the Transport Workers Union; little wonder why—$8.3 million in donations over the years to the Labor Party. If they are elected, they will decimate owner-drivers in Australia.

John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Is the minister aware of any commentary on the effectiveness of the road safety remuneration system?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I am. There is no evidence that the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal achieved any safety outcomes in its four years of operation. In fact, several former TWU employees have gone on the record and blown the whistle in relation to the tenuous link drawn by the TWU.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You can hear those opposite standing up for the unions against the small business people in Australia. Those former members of the TWU have come clean. They apologised to Australians and they have said: 'We got it wrong. There was never a link. This is not what the tribunal was designed to do.' What the tribunal was designed to do, the practical effect of the RSRT, was to deliberately push owner-drivers out of the market. A vote for the Turnbull government is a vote to keep owner-drivers doing what they do best—that is, keeping them on the road.

John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister advise the Senate on the importance of governing in the interests of all Australians?

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said, Mr Shorten, for some very strange reason, has decided to confirm, as we go towards the election, that if he is elected as Prime Minister, he will 'rule like a union boss'. Well, Mr President, that should send shivers up the spines of all Australians, because we know what union bosses are capable of doing. Union bosses misappropriate the workers' money.

Talking about misappropriation: a $20 billion blackhole, colleagues, is referred to as a rounding error. Can you imagine what a mistake is if the Labor Party makes one? If $20 billion is a rounding error, God help Australians if those on the other side are ever, ever given the opportunity to touch our books again.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.