Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to follow my good friend and colleague the member for Sturt. I rise to support the motion moved by my friend and colleague the member for Goldstein. We're both proud Victorians, and we're both in absolute despair at the lawlessness that is pervading our great state at the hands of state and federal Labor governments.

The Saturday Paper, which is no cheerleader of the coalition, wrote over the weekend about payback for those who have blown the whistle on the CFMEU. The article says:

The costs have been stark for the whistleblowers. To start with, "going to war" against the corruption of the construction division of Victoria's CFMEU has meant their effective blacklisting from union job sites. One has worked very little in the past year, and bills are due. Christmas is near. Their partner has also felt the strain.

I'd also like to quote from the Weekend Australian that this issue has been raised again.

The CFMEU's manufacturing division has taken Federal Court action to lock in its split from the union's "dysfunctional and murky" construction division in a move that will formalise the creation of the 10,000-member Timber, Furnishing and Textiles Union.

The expected court approval will see the once influential CFMEU reduced to the construction division, which will be in administration for years, and the maritime division.

It goes on:

The departure of the manufacturing division follows the exit of the mining and energy division to form a stand-alone union.

Manufacturing division national secretary Michael O'Connor said on Friday "our members are looking forward to officially getting out".

I don't always agree with Michael O'Connor and his division, and I don't always agree with the pulp and paper division of the CFMEU, but locally, in the Latrobe Valley, there have been many occasions when I have stood up with those divisions on the issues of jobs and manufacturing. I remember Anthony Pavey, from the pulp and paper division of the CFMEU in the Latrobe Valley, stood up on behalf of his members who worked at Australian Paper, and Michael O'Connor has been a strong representative of the forestry division in the CFMEU. It is quite clear to see how appalled they are at the actions of the construction division of the CFMEU, that it is a stain on other divisions that are trying to get on with the business of representing their members.

I'd also like to point out that my colleague the member for Goldstein has been relentless in his pursuit of truth and justice on this issue, and he has yielded some results. Late last week the CFMEU's Zach Smith was forced off the Labor Party's National Executive after the Prime Minister had to distance himself from relying on Smith's support. That being so, the minister is still blocking a Senate inquiry into union corruption, which will still, unbelievably, rely on Smith as a key adviser. I have to ask, why is this government scared of the truth? We know that that resignation was as a direct result of sustained pressure by the member for Goldstein and the coalition, who have only one interest, and that is to get to the heart of this issue and to expose the conflict of interest that the Albanese Labor government is conflicted by.

We need an inquiry to reveal the full scale of corruption, cartel networks and why officials have been placed in positions that, it turns out later, have been sacked on allegations of corruption. This is really important; it goes to the heart of integrity and accountability in government. We are now 15 months along since the CFMEU was placed into administration. We've got whistleblowers who are saying corruption inside the CFMEU has got worse, not better. It's just outrageous. Instead of cracking down on corruption, this continues on and it's an absolute farce.

Under the Prime Minister's watch, the CFMEU are still refusing to answer questions. The government are still refusing to answer the most basic questions about CFMEU cartel kickbacks, despite the figure now climbing to $6.6 million. It's not good enough.

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