Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Is this the same royal commission that Dyson Heydon was the commissioner for? And is this the same Dyson Heydon who was the guest speaker at a Liberal Party fundraiser during the time in which he was the commissioner for the royal commission into trade unions? Let's just be honest here when we are talking about party donations and party fundraisers. This particular royal commission was nothing but a witch-hunt and the person in charge of the witch-hunt was nothing but a stooge for the Liberal Party and in fact was going to be the guest speaker at a Liberal Party fundraiser where all moneys raised were going straight back to the Liberal Party.

So, before we listen to those opposite, let us just set the record straight about what this disgraceful royal commission sought to do. It was about nothing more than trying to tear down political opponents, which is all we see from those opposite. In the contribution just made by the previous speaker, there was no mention of employers who do the wrong thing and no mention of the fact that every single day there are employers in our community who do not pay workers, who rip off workers and who do not pay super. There was no mention or condemnation of the fact that every single day there are 457 visa workers in this country being underpaid or not employed in the job for which they were brought here. In fact, a Fair Work Ombudsman report exposed that one in four 457 visa workers in this country are working here on rates of pay that undercut Australian wages. Where is the government's condemnation of those employers? Instead, once again, all they seek to do is bash unions. That is all they seem to do: bashing unions and bashing workers.

Let's set the record straight about penalty rates. This government and members of the Liberal Party ignore the fact that, when you collectively bargain, your agreement must pass a 'better off overall' test. Sure, the workers may trade for a lower Sunday rate because they get a higher Monday to Friday rate. Now have a chat to your small businesses in your electorate and see if they want to pay a higher Monday to Friday rate. They very quickly go quiet when you talk to them about the fact that, if they want an agreement that reduces Sunday penalty rates, they have to trade it off and increase the rates of pay Monday to Friday. That is exactly what happened with the workers that were mentioned previously—a higher base rate.

Those opposite talk about secret payments. They are not secret payments; they are union membership fees. There was something like a payroll deduction. Workers signed up to a union and they said, 'Yes, I authorise the employer to deduct my union dues and pass it on to the union.' There is nothing secret about that. It has been happening for over a hundred years here in Australia, with workers saying, 'Yes, I am proud to join my union, and, if the employer is able to do so, deduct the fee and pass it on to my union.' Payroll deduction is not a secret, and it is nothing new.

Just to highlight just how ridiculous this government and their ludicrous laws are, we need go no further than the comments made by Justice Tony North just last week about the Turnbull government's Australian Building and Construction Commission. He said:

For goodness sake, I don’t know what the inspectorate is doing. I must say it's a terrible waste of everybody's time.

What caused such an outcry from Justice North was the fact that this government took two CFMEU officials to court for having a cup of tea. You would think that they would have more important issues on their hands than prosecuting CFMEU officials for having a cup of tea. This is yet another example of how this government are purely and simply going after their political opponents.

It is an insult to our democracy for this government to try to tear down a labour movement that has existed in this country longer than their political party. They are using our judicial system, our parliament and any means they can to attack their opponents. This is not Cambodia. This is not a country which struggles with democracy. We have strong foundations of democracy in this country; yet all we see from those opposite—whether it be the ABCC, the royal commission into trade unions or the registered organisations legislation—are their attempts to tear down our democracy. I am proud to say that I am a unionist and I am proud each and every day to be one. They stand up for working people to make sure working people's rights are protected, particularly against this government.

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