Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns the Government's handling of corruption allegations within the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), acknowledging that:

(a) the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations continues to endorse its solution despite whistleblowers saying corruption is worse than it was before the appointment of the CFMEU Administrator;

(b) the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations refuses to answer questions about new allegations of corruption since the Government put the CFMEU into administration;

(c) organisers were promoted into senior roles by the Administrator and subsequently sacked on allegations of accepting cartel kickbacks and corruption since the administration has been in place;

(d) meetings have been tolerated with known organised crime figures and meetings have seemingly been green lighted with violent misogynists since the administration has been in place;

(e) there are allegations of bribes and cartel kickbacks being paid with the knowledge and possible sanction of the administration;

(f) the union leader backed by the Government to reform the CFMEU, Zach Smith, directed a subordinate to secretly meet with a 'notorious construction industry fixer' and Melbourne 'underworld identity' Mick Gatto;

(g) despite claiming meetings between CFMEU officials and Mr Gatto could lead to up to two years in prison, the Administrator only issued a caution once it was revealed this meeting was made public;

(h) the union leader backed by the Government to reform the CFMEU, Zach Smith, has been having coffee and card catch ups with John Setka whose conduct was the basis for the appointment of the Administrator in the first place;

(i) the Administrator has seemingly sanctioned meetings between Mr Smith and Mr Setka and they continue to this day;

(j) the Prime Minister relies on Mr Smith's vote in meetings of the National Executive of the Australian Labor Party with other ministers; and

(k) the current Government's failure to take tough action is tainted by its acceptance of $7 million in donations from the CFMEU, and informs why it is backing the Administration even though whistleblowers are saying it is failing; and

(2) notes that:

(a) the Government is not taking the action needed to stop the corruption and cartel kickbacks that led the CFMEU to be put under administration because of its conflicts of interest;

(b) allowing the criminal and corrupt CFMEU to run rampant across residential, commercial and public projects, is pushing up costs to taxpayers and inflation, and is pushing up the cost of first homes by up to 30 per cent; and

(c) leaked advice from the Department of the Treasury states the Government will fail to reach the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes by 2029 because it is putting the CFMEU ahead of first home buyers.

Australians should want a system of government that is free from corruption and cartel kickbacks, but the reality is we have nothing like that right now. Under the coalition government, we established the Australian Building and Construction Commission to rein in the criminal law-breaking and cartel kickbacks between the CFMEU and so many of the companies that go along with their destructive behaviour and of course their direct connection to the ACTU and the Australian Labor Party. The scale of corruption is unending, so there was more work to be done under the ABCC. But one of the first acts of this Labor government was to abolish the ABCC, take what little was left of the leash that held back the CFMEU's corruption and let it loose on the Australian community. Now they are complicit every step of the way in the corruption that has been engaged.

Corruption is corrosive to our democracy. After it was revealed the CFMEU was directly connected to criminal gangs, organised crime and bikies to access public projects, the Albanese government eventually had to admit that maybe they got it a bit wrong and shouldn't have let them completely off the leash. So they put the CFMEU under administration. Fifteen months on, the verdict is now in. It's not my opinion. It's not the Labor government's opinion. It's the opinion of whistleblowers who are now calling out the administration, saying that, ultimately, corruption has actually gotten worse. Only last week, Charles Farrugia went public on the program 60 Minutes to highlight the bullying and intimidation now systemic within the CFMEU. While the minister waxes lyrical about having the strongest possible course of action, the reality shows something completely different. The facts show now the administrator appointed figures who have since been sacked on allegations of corruption. Rather than destroying corruption, he has, tragically, become the enabler of it.

Fair Work reported in estimates that they would have grave concerns if meetings were approved between the Victorian head of CFMEU, Zach Smith, and, of course, John Setka. That happened. The administrator greenlit meetings with John Setka and has completely ignored meetings with Mick Gatto, simply issuing cautions. Recent evidence has been highlighted in the Age newspaper. Veterans that want to work on Victorian big-bill projects have been asked to pay corrupt kickbacks, simply for the right to work, in $10,000 brown paper bags. In Victoria, the CFMEU hires organised crime to attack companies. In New South Wales, contractors hire organised crime to respond to CFMEU thuggery. This is absurd.

First home buyers are paying the cost through higher costs for new apartment builds, and the cost is flowing on to CFMEU corruption. Taxpayers are paying an even bigger price through the higher cost of public projects, lower returns and lower value. More importantly, when higher costs go up on public projects, tomorrow, it is debt. In addition to that, it is taxes on future generations. It's all to finance and feed cartel kickbacks to the CFMEU. Taxpayers are paying a higher price, and the beneficiaries are criminal gangs, organised crime and bikies. I don't think it should shock anybody, and it amazes me there are Labor members speaking against this motion, but here they are—to be judged by the Australian people and to somehow stand by and say they think this corruption is acceptable. It is not acceptable.

Confidence in the administration has collapsed. The minister has strapped herself to the administrator in arguing that this is the strongest possible course of action, but nobody believes it. Three weeks ago, we wrote to her asking basic questions. She won't answer. Last week—this is how bad it got—the head of Victorian CFMEU, Zach Smith, who lent his numbers to the Prime Minister on their national executive of the Labor Party, self identified that he was sufficiently tainted that he removed himself. When even the corrupt are abandoning ship, you know it's bad. But he is still an adviser to the minister on her National Construction Industry Forum. When we asked her about it in parliament last week, she ran interference. There's no wonder the minister is blocking an inquiry into the CFMEU administration. She still continues to get advice from Zach Smith from the Victorian CFMEU.

We need a clear plan to address the shortcomings of this administration. That's why we need an inquiry, and we need Mr Smith out of the way. We need Australians' help. Go to timwilsonmp.com.au/cfmeu_inquiry to fight back and lend your name to stand up against CFMEU corruption.

See this speech in context