Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Last year, when asked whether he would deregister the corrupt and criminal CFMEU, the Prime Minister said, 'Nothing will be taken off the table.' Under Labor's handpicked administrator, CFMEU officials have been caught taking bribes and running around with bikies and gangland figures. Will the minister finally deregister the CFMEU, as the coalition has called for, or is the only thing off the table this government's courage to stand up to corrupt, criminal unions that bankroll the Labor Party?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. Of course, if she had been following the debate as to why we were putting the CFMEU into administration, she would know that the strongest possible action you can take, in terms of transparency and ensuring that there is accountability, is to put the CFMEU into administration. We compare that to what the coalition did, which was stand up an ABCC which really was a toothless tiger. If we look at some of the incidents and allegations that are being exposed at the moment—they happened under the ABCC and, indeed, the coalition's watch.

We on this side of the House are taking this issue of stamping out corruption in the construction industry with the seriousness and the dedication it deserves. It is about getting the regulators to work together. It is about getting the police to work together. It is about an administration that is so transparent it reports twice to the parliament every single year. It appoints investigations and tables those investigations or puts them on its website. It puts its financial records out for the world to see. This is the type of transparency we need.

If those opposite think this is an easy task then they are naive. It has been demonstrated by the shadow minister, who today made some absolutely baseless claims about the administrator—a barrister with the standing of Mark Irving. It was absolutely a disgrace. While they on the other side might want to play politics with this issue, we take it seriously. We want to see a construction industry free from corruption. We are dedicated to the task and we will work until that task is done.