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

I present the explanatory memoranda and I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY (RESTORING INTEGRITY AND REDUCING BUILDING COSTS) BILL 2024

I move that this bill be now read a second time.

Since 2007 the unions in this country have donated approximately $100 million to the Australian Labor Party.

One of the first actions this government took was to repay them in spades by abolishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Bob Hawke, Kevin Rudd and even Julia Gillard knew of the need to stand up to militant unions.

Those opposite cannot simply ignore the continuous succession of court judgments that document the need to do so.

Since 2003, the CFMEU and its officials have broken workplace laws on more than 2,600 occasions, been involved in approximately 213 proceedings and have been penalised over $24 million in penalties by the Courts.

The ABCC routinely filed new court cases which called out abhorrent behaviour with a success rate of 91%.

The industry watchdog has an exemplary track record in cracking down on union intimidation, thuggery and criminal behaviour in the construction sector, especially the harassment and abuse of women on job sites.

It was a highly effective body, which is why John Setka wanted it abolished and Anthony Albanese obliged.

The Government continues to repay them in spades.

It's business and taxpayers who pay the price.

Governments—both state and federal—are a key buyer of construction services to build public service and transport infrastructure.

Labor state governments have mandated across-the-board pay increases to appease CFMEU demands for its preferred wages and conditions.

What have we seen as a result?

We've seen these higher labour costs increase construction costs.

We've seen major project cost blow-outs—sometimes by as much as 30 per cent under what has been coined the 'CFMEU tax'.

We're seeing the return of conduct and practices that many people thought were consigned to the dustbins of the last century.

We need to be building more.

We know that the government has brought in a million people over the course of the last two years.

But we have only built 265,000 homes. And that's why this government has created a housing crisis.

We have builders who are going bankrupt at a record rate.

We have building costs which are escalating, and the government says, 'The CFMEU doesn't have an influence in relation to the residential sector.'

Of course they do.

Builders have told this government time over that they can't retain their workforce, because people are going to work for $150,000 or $200,000 a year on a CFMEU site on a stop-and-go job.

One of the worst examples of these is the return of 'union veto' over the right for a business to decide who it does business with, or who works on their sites.

Companies in Victoria bidding to supply labour on major projects pay double the price to secure deals because they are aligned with the CFMEU.

The impacts of such arrangements are as obvious as they are unfair.

It means that those who get the work aren't those who can do the best job, or do it most effectively—instead, you only get the job if you've been 'approved' by a union.

It's no longer the best person for the job—but the person a union dictates.

This is unfair to businesses, particularly small businesses and family subcontractors, and only results in higher costs and blowouts in getting work completed.

It is anti-competitive, anti-small business, stifles innovation and undermines the right of a business to freely decide who it does business with, and the terms under which that work is done.

For consumers and for taxpayers, this means things cost more, and take longer to deliver.

Under this Bill, we will reinstate the Building Code to ensure that they prohibit any arrangement or conduct that gives unions the right of veto over the choice of business about who they work with, and which subcontractors they engage.

We will require builders to abide by the law or risk sanction from tendering for Commonwealth funded work.

People are paying more for builders, they're playing more for plumbers, they're paying more for electricians, they're paying more for tradies—in their businesses and their homes—because the CFMEU conduct has a contagion effect across the economy.

Changing the industrial relations system is one of the strongest economic levers that any government has at its disposal.

It is undeniable that abolishing the construction industry watchdog has had substantial negative flow on effects to our economy.

This government seems to think that, somehow, the activity of the CFMEU is not inflationary. It is.

And in 2022, the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said winding back the ABCC to the bare legal minimum would not oversee a revival of union militancy.

"No, it won't" Mr Marles told Sky News.

Yet fresh revelations involving allegations of criminal activity involving the CFMEU and links to organised crime have once again exposed the unlawful conduct and toxic culture that thrives amongst its ranks.

This Prime Minister and his Government's position is that they had no idea about law breaking in the CFMEU just isn't credible.

Former Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Ney said on 60 minutes, when asked who was policing the construction industry in Australia, "There is no one at the moment, it's in a vacant space, there's a gap there."

This Bill I move today will reintroduce the ABCC and restore its powers to enforce workplace laws in the building and construction industry.

The ABCC will have the authority to investigate and prosecute breaches of industrial laws, including unlawful industrial action, coercion, and breaches of right-of-entry provisions.

It will have increased resources and capabilities to monitor compliance with workplace laws when compared to the current inadequate resourcing of the Fair Work Ombudsman.

This will lead to improved productivity and economic benefits for all Australians.

It will protect workers and businesses from criminal coercion.

And ensure that businesses can compete fairly.

Together with our Removing Criminals from Worksites Bill, the Coalition is taking strong leadership to enact a powerful deterrent against unlawful across this industry.

The union's repeated contravening is reflective of its organisational culture and attitude toward compliance with the law.

Now more than ever, we need an industry watchdog with teeth.

Labor's so-called tough stance is too little, too late.

The Prime Minister should admit that his decision to abolish the ABCC was a catastrophic mistake which gave control of the construction sector in Australia to their mates in this militant union.

I urge those opposite to see the error of their ways and support this important legislation.

If they oppose it, you have to ask yourself who runs this government—the Labor Party or the CFMEU?

I commend the Bill to the Senate.

FAIR WORK (REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS) AMENDMENT (REMOVING CRIMINALS FROM WORKSITES) BILL 2024

Registered Organisations are not above the law.

Section 5 of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (RO Act) provides that the Parliament "…recognises and respects the role of employer and employee organisations in facilitating the operation of the workplace relations system".

Associations that become registered organisations have privileges and rights under the RO Act and Fair Work Act 2009 that allow them to represent the interests of their members more effectively in workplace matters, this includes:

These privileges and rights must be respected and complied with.

Therefore, if existing sanctions are not working effectively to deter lawbreaking, then government needs to develop stronger sanctions.

If penalties are not working, then the courts need other options.

It's clearly the case when it comes to registered organisations like the CFMEU. This organisation has for decades had an appalling culture characterised by bullying, thuggery and intimidation.

Hundreds of Federal Court judgements have forensically and methodically identified the individuals and conduct giving rise to this culture.

Since 2003, the CFMEU and its officials have broken workplace laws on more than 2,600 occasions, been involved in approximately 213 proceedings and have been penalised over $24 million in penalties by the Courts.

Separately, there are still instances of officials being involved in legal matters outside the Fair Work regime including numerous officials being charged with serious assaults.

One official, who is a convicted drug dealer, was able to obtain a Right of Entry permit, only to have it revoked when he was penalised by the Court for failing to comply with the said permit.

Yet still, this Parliament has refused to pass a law that seeks to remove these individuals from our worksites and protect people in small business when unions threaten, coerce and bully them.

This must change. The Bill I move today will introduce stricter measures to disqualify individuals from holding office within Registered Organisations if they have been involved in criminal activities or breaches of various workplace laws.

This is a sensible change consistent with the treatment of directors disqualified from running corporations.

Courts must be able to disqualify officers who keep breaking the law— suspending or removing them from office or taking from the organisation itself the enormous rights and privileges afforded to it by virtue of registration.

The Federal Court should have the power to cancel the registration of organisations or impose alternative orders to fight against the kind of rampant misconduct that the CFMEU has come to embody.

The inclusion of alternative orders in this Bill, such as suspending rights and privileges or restricting the use of funds, is crucial for stripping the CFMEU of its ability to continue its unlawful activities.

These measures ensure that the union cannot simply reorganise and carry on as if nothing happened, something Labor has allowed them to do for far too long.   

Putting the CFMEU into administration is not enough. We need to ensure that the lawless individuals who have held our construction sector to ransom are dealt with permanently.

The vast majority of unions and their employer groups manage to perform these functions perfectly well.

They work hard for their members, but they do so inside the confines of the laws recognised by the Australian people.

The bill simply deals with those registered organisations and unions who have shown an absolutely unfettered disregard for the law, who break the law—civil, workplace and criminal—repeatedly and mistreat hardworking Australian men and women in the workplace, particularly in construction.

The measures in this bill have come before this Senate in 2017 and 2019.

The Labor Party voted against them.

This Prime Minister and his Government's position is that they had no idea about law breaking in the CMFEU.

He is prepared to turn a blind eye to their conduct, which is resulting in, literally, a multi-billion-dollar fraud on the Australian taxpayer.

If Mr Albanese really wants to tackle the appalling culture in the CFMEU, which he ignored for years, then he must support this legislation.

A union whose persistent, entrenched and unacceptable conduct has been described by the judiciary as "the worst union behaviour possible" perpetrated by "the most recidivist corporate offender in Australia's history".

With its gang-like conduct, the CFMEU is hiking costs on the projects it controls by some 30 per cent.

People are paying more for builders, they're paying more for plumbers, they're paying more for electricians, they're paying more for tradies—in their businesses and their homes—because the CFMEU conduct has a contagion effect across the economy. Under Labor's watch, this union has operated with impunity, all while funnelling millions into the coffers of the Labor Party.

How can this Prime Minister guarantee that donations received by the Labor Party did not originate from the proceeds of crime?

President, holding office in an Australian registered organisation is a privilege.

This bill only poses an issue for unions and employer groups who abuse that privilege, who break the law and betray the trust of their members.

It's time that union officials who don't live up to their obligations, face real and meaningful consequences, as the community expects.

We can no longer allow the CFMEU to have nothing but contempt for the law and treating fines as simply "the cost of doing business".

Conduct which has manifested into costly delays to key infrastructure projects that should be benefiting the community.

We must reduce the unnecessary costs and delays that law-breaking unions can cause and make sure that building vital infrastructure like hospitals, schools and roads is affordable.

Taxpayers deserve better.

Australians are sick of this Government's protection racket of this militant union which continues to break the law.   .This Prime Minister is weak on border security. He's weak on crime. He's weak on policing the construction industry because he's bought and paid for by the CFMEU.

This is a weak leader who stands for nothing.

Nothing in this Bill will adversely affect workers.

These measures aren't anti-union.

These measures are common sense.

They should be uncontroversial.

They are necessary to protect members of trade unions and employer groups from unlawful behaviour and uphold basic community expectations in terms of the standards of workplace conduct and enables those who fail to meet those standards to be held accountable.

Passing this vital legislation will take a significant step towards curbing the behaviour we have seen threaten the rule of the law in Australian workplaces.

I urge all parties in this parliament to support these reforms.

I commend the Bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.