Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister For Defence Industry, representing the Minister for Employment. Will the minister outline to the House the government's commitment to ensuring that employer and employee organisations always act in the best interests of their members? What hurdles exist to improved productivity in the building and construction industry?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for McMillan for his question. I would point out to the member for Macmillan that, the last time the Australian Building and Construction Commission existed in Australia, building and construction productivity increased by 16.8 per cent and consumers were saved $7½ million in needless expenses that would have occurred without the ABCC being in place. A tough cop on the industrial beat creates jobs, boosts growth, improves productivity, saves the economy needless expense and protects workers and employees alike. So it is passing strange that the Leader of the Opposition is so opposed to the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Registered Organisations Commission being reintroduced by this government.

Much attention has revolved around the $2.3 million worth of donations the CFMEU has provided the Labor Party in the last five years. And remember that that does not even include the last federal election period—it is until the end of the financial year last year, not this year—so goodness knows how much more that has increased in that period. But the CFMEU of course is not the only union that has a controlling stake in the Australian Labor Party. The Australian Workers Union has been a big donor to the Labor Party. In the 2007 election the AWU donated $63,000 to the Leader of the Opposition's own campaign in Maribyrnong. It does not seem as vast as $2.3 million but everyone in the House knows that a donation of $63,000 to your campaign is a big donation. It is not something you would simply forget: it is not $630; it is not $63 in raffle tickets; it is $63,000 in the Maribyrnong Labor Party campaign. This is a safe Labor seat. It is not as though the Victorian Liberal Party would have been pouring resources into Maribyrnong to try and win that seat. The truth is it is a safe Labor seat. And yet the AWU gave the Leader of the Opposition $63,000. Worse than that, he forgot about it. He hid that amount of money not just for the next financial year—it was not an inadvertent error—but for eight years. And the only time it became public knowledge was when he had to appear in the royal commission—he declared it two days before. If he votes for the ABCC and the ROC he can expunge this failure. Otherwise, he is just a union cat's whore. (Time expired)