George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I say that the arguments that we have heard from the other side of the chamber are appalling in seeking to justify what is a blatant political act. Neither Senator Ronaldson, in his usual loud, aggressive manner, nor Senator Fierravanti-Wells addressed at all the substance of what the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Amendment Bill 2006 is about. I heard a lot of bagging of the ABC and the way in which it reports particular stories, but never once did Senator Fierravanti-Wells address or attempt to address in her contribution the issues of substance in this bill.

This bill has nothing to do with good corporate governance. If it did, we might treat seriously it and the arguments that were presented by some of the senators on the other side. But it has nothing to do at all with that. This is another instalment by the government in union bashing. The government have sought from 1996 and all the way through to systematically remove from any boards, government or otherwise, union representatives or representatives of workers—many of them were representatives of workers and did not represent unions in that context. The government have done it to the Austrade board, they have done or are now seeking to do it to the ABC and they have done it to a whole range of other boards. It has been a systematic part of the union-bashing agenda.

The Prime Minister struts the country, proudly arguing his credentials as a representative of the workers—Howard’s battlers—and looking after their interests.