Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to rise this evening and speak in favour of the government's ensuring integrity legislation, which has gone into the House of Representatives.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Are you going to tell us about rorts?

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going to tell you, Senator Watt, about the actions of the CFMEU. I know, Murray, you don't like listening about the CFMEU. You don't like listening to the anecdotes about the CFMEU. There was an article on 10 February in The Australian which said:

Inside the union movement, there is growing frustration that the civil war engulfing the CFMEU is undermining the ACTU's campaign to kill off the Coalition's union-restricting Ensuring Integrity Bill.

There should be growing alarm within the ACTU with respect to the CFMEU and with respect to whether or not the CFMEU's actions are going to result in the ensuring integrity legislation rightly being passed in this parliament. Why? Because the only reason why senators on this side of the chamber, including myself, are advocating for this legislation is the unlawful conduct of the CFMEU. It is not union-busting legislation. It is legislation to protect workers and small-business owners from the CFMEU's intimidation, harassment, bullying and extortion tactics.

Last week in the adjournment debate I referred to a case where a Federal Court judge referred to the actions of the CFMEU—

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Was it Vasta?

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, it was not Vasta, Senator. The judge, who was in fact Judge Cameron, referred to the actions of the CFMEU—these are the judge's words, Senator Green, not mine: 'These were serious contraventions … the contraventions were a form of extortion'. Senator Watt might refer to sport grants, et cetera, but what about this extortion? A Federal Court judge is referring to a CFMEU official engaging in extortion. They're affiliated with the ALP. I note Bob Hawke and Paul Keating have both said—it's on the record—that the ALP should distance themselves from the CFMEU. But for the CFMEU, you would not have the ensuring integrity legislation coming before the House of Reps and, soon, before the Senate.

There are good people on the other side of this chamber who have worked for unions and with unions. My father was a member of a union, my mother was a member of a union, I think my sister still is a member of a union.

Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Good people!

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Good people, absolutely. There are good people in unions, but there is also a sickness within the union movement, and that sickness is the construction division of the CFMEU.

In 37,000 words in this chamber, when the senators on the other side were debating the ensuring integrity legislation, they could only bring themselves to mention the CFMEU once—once in 37,000 words. Why is it that the senators on the other side are institutionally incapable of dealing with the CFMEU? The whole of the trade union movement in this country is going to be punished and hurt, and is already being hurt, because of the actions of the construction division of the CFMEU. They are giving trade unions all over this country a bad name. It is unjust. It is unfair. But it will only be stopped if those on the other side of the chamber or a sufficient number of crossbenchers realise that the only way to address this cancer is to take appropriate action. Bob Hawke did it in the 1980s with the BLF. Why? Because Bob Hawke believed, as I believe, that workers should be entitled to go to work without the fear of intimidation, harassment and extortion from the CFMEU.