Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Carr interjects and says, 'Truth'—and it is correct that they are running an ongoing campaign to discredit a royal commission which has exposed corruption day after day within certain elements of the trade union movement. I would have thought any trade unionists worthy of their calling as a trade union official representing the workers of Australia would want to see a clean trade union movement.

What puts the lie to Senator Conroy's assertion is Ms Jackson's response after her day in the witness box. You know what? She felt 'ambushed' by the royal commission. Here is a classic example of the Australian Labor Party not being able to get their story right. Ms Jackson says that she was 'ambushed' and that that is why she was not as good a witness as she otherwise might have been—I do not know what her rationale was. Yet here we have the Australian Labor Party asserting that she was coached every single step of the way. Get your story straight.

One thing we know about this royal commission is that the Labor senators that want to defend trade union corruption cannot get their story straight—never can, never will, never have. What we want to ensure is that the worthy cause of trade unionism— (Time expired)