Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before I go back to my comments on the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Administration) Bill 2024, I would like to extend my best wishes to the member for Gorton: 26 years of service in this place—eight terms—is a tremendous opportunity and service to his country. I wish him well, and I look forward to working with him on the defence subcommittee for the life of this parliament.

But to get back to the bill: I'm very pleased the member for Watson is still here—and I wish the Prime Minister and Senator Watt were still here, because they'd be able to listen to my remarks. Until the Labor Party won government in 2022, the member for Watson was the shadow minister for industrial relations for I think virtually the whole time I've been in this place. He then served as the minister for industrial relations. So, when he came out and expressed some form of incredulity—that he had no idea about the recidivism and the criminal conduct that had taken over the CFMEU: 'We had no idea it was this bad'—the member for Watson, as the shadow minister and as the minister for industrial relations, no doubt had read judgement after judgement after judgement of the Federal Court. If he didn't read them personally, I've got no doubt that he would have had many advisers who would have briefed him on those judgements.

Over two decades, judges of the Federal Court have been talking about the illegal conduct that has infiltrated the CFMEU. So I ask this question: how could it be that senior members—any members—of the Labor Party could have had no idea about this problem? Of course they knew! They just chose to turn a blind eye. And why did they choose to turn a blind eye? Well, the fact that the Labor Party has received donations in the order of $6.2 million since the current Prime Minister has been the leader of the Labor Party might have something to do with it.

See this speech in context