Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

That contribution was not surprising, because the member for Fraser rarely knows what the question before the chair is, and he certainly was not speaking to the question before the chair. There is no doubt what the question is about. This is about union thuggery. This is about workers’ rights. This is about the fact that unions will impose their will upon the workers in Australia. This is about the fact that we could have the possibility of wall-to-wall union governments in Australia. That is what the argument is about at the present time. Members opposite do not want to talk about that. We have not heard a word about trying to defend those particular positions, because they cannot. I come from a position where I used to be a rank-and-file unionist, and I know what goes on in union meetings. I have met people like the member for Gorton, who is at the table. I have met people like him—the enforcers. If you have a look across the chamber at some of these people, you might have met them in the workplace somewhere, or on the work site. Can you just imagine meeting the member for Lalor on the work site? What a fearsome sight that would be!

What these people do is that they walk into the workplace and they enforce their will. They do not ask the workers. They do not ask the people on the site what they want. These union thugs come in and enforce their will in the workplace. I have been there and seen it. They lord it over not just the workers but also the bosses. I came into the New South Wales parliament at a time when we had the green bans. Remember the green bans? The member for Brisbane was probably mixed up in them at the time, getting some of the kickbacks. I can tell you—

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