Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. Of course in the last parliament, in 2022, the first question I got was about the CFMEU and construction, from the then Leader of the Opposition. So it's taken a little bit longer, but it's the same pattern. But the difference is that my government has acted, unlike the former government. So, unlike when I stood here as Prime Minister in 2022, after a period of three terms of the coalition, three terms in which clearly we have seen the evidence of corruption by some people in the CFMEU construction branch grow—we saw the power of people like John Setka grow beyond his state boundaries in Victoria—we acted.

We intervened, we shut them down, they've been sacked, they got removed. And that is absolutely critical, because it's consistent with my government's approach, which is twofold. One is that trade unionists overwhelmingly are motivated by helping out issues like occupational health and safety; by helping out the wages and conditions of working class people, of making sure that they get their fair share in areas like construction and mining; and it's about workers going home to their families at the end of the day. The role that unions have played in that has been critical. And that is why it is so disgusting and abhorrent that a small number of people have chosen to abuse their position to engage in conduct which is criminal.

Criminal conduct should be subject to criminal penalties. That's not the instruction of anyone; that's called the law. That's called the law. When those opposite raise the question about administrators, they remind people that we've put administrators in—when they had secretaries like John Setka running the show and did absolutely nothing about it.

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