Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hear the member for Higgins say, 'No.' I am a little more confident than that. I think they will. I think they will stand up for workers. Surely they will stand up for transparency. I hope you are wrong, Member for Higgins. I hope they have the courage of their convictions. I know why you are doubtful about that, but I hope they have the courage to stand up for decency and accountability. Or will they continue to run a protection racket for union bosses—a protected species in this country at present?

The list of allegations, scandals and unanswered questions grows longer each and every day. Each and every day this government is in power, they let unions get away with running the show. This is an opportunity for Labor and, importantly, for the Independents, the crossbenchers, to stand up and say, 'Enough is enough.' This is an opportunity for them to stand up and say that the community deserves better, far better—particularly the hundreds of thousands of union members Labor purports to represent. Those union members in the hospitality sector, the health sector and all the other sectors deserve to know that their union fees, their hard-earned dues, are going where they are intended to go and that they are properly accounted for. (Time expired)

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