George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Furner. Let me refer you, Madam Acting Deputy President Pratt, to section 577 of the Fair Work Act of which they are so proud. It lies in that part of the act which establishes Fair Work Australia. This is what it says:

Fair Work Australia must perform its functions and exercise its powers—

in a manner which:

(a) is fair and just; and

(b) is quick, informal and avoids unnecessary technicalities; and

(c) is open and transparent; and

(d) promotes harmonious and cooperative workplace relations.

I defy anyone to assert in good faith that the investigation by Fair Work Australia into the affairs of the Health Services Union and the involvement in those affairs of its former professional officer Mr Craig Thomson has been either quick or open and transparent.

As Senator Abetz and Senator Ronaldson have pointed out, this investigation began in January 2009—more than three years ago—and now, in the fourth year of the investigation, there is still no end in sight. On no view is that a quick, open and transparent investigation and it is nonsense for Senator Jacinta Collins to assert that by criticising the obvious delay that has beset this investigation the opposition is in some manner seeking to politically interfere with an independent agency. Fair Work Australia is not a court, it is an agency, and as an agency of the executive government it is entirely answerable to the scrutiny of the parliament and the committees of the parliament, including the Senate estimates committees.

It is also, as an agency of the Common­wealth, answerable to a writ of mandamus under section 75 of the Constitution if it fails to discharge its statutory obligations. So for the parliament to insist that a statutory agency which is evidently delaying the performance of a statutory function—in breach of the requirements of its own act, that it proceed with those functions in a quick and efficient manner—is nothing more than this parliament and this Senate doing its job is nonsense, as is saying that to criticise a defaulting, non-compliant statutory agency is to do other than what the parliament is meant to be doing.

As we know, at the core of the Fair Work Australia investigation lies the role of the man who was, at the time, the national secretary and is now the member for Dobell—Mr Craig Thomson. And as we know, if Mr Craig Thomson were to forfeit his seat in parliament, on conviction for an indictable offence, the Gillard government would fall. Does anybody in Australia seriously believe that the delay in concluding the investigation into Mr Craig Thomson is not related to the fact that he is the one vote upon whom the fate of the Gillard government depends? You would have to be very gullible to believe that.

Senator Abetz has already said so but let me repeat it: the Fitzgerald inquiry in our state, Mr Acting Deputy President Furner, which you will remember, subjected the entire political and policing system of the state of Queensland to what was effectively institutional open-heart surgery. It examined hundreds of thousands of documents. It examined hundreds of witnesses. It was the most complex commission of its kind, certainly the most consequential commission of its kind, in Australian history. It did not take three years.

The Wood royal commission in New South Wales, which examined the police force of that state and dealt with numerous transactions and an extremely complex web of criminal activity, did not take anything like three years. And yet this is essentially the audit of expenses engaged in by one individual over the course of a few years in the discharge—'discharge' is perhaps not the best word to use in the circumstances—of his obligations as a senior union official. Senator Collins showed her naivety about these matters when she said, 'There are 6,000 documents.' Six thousand documents in a large piece of litigation or a complex inquiry is as nothing. It does not take three years to examine 6,000 documents. If it were being done industriously and with the proper dedication of resources to it, it would take about three weeks.

We have had inconsistent evidence to Senate inquiries by Mr Nassios, to whom Senator Ronaldson referred, and other officers of Fair Work Australia, about both the conduct of the investigation and the likely completion date of the investigation. And, now, scandalously, there has been a suggestion that if the investigation—well into its fourth year—were to come to a conclusion, that report would not be made public. Because the fate of the government depends upon this man, the delay in the prosecution of justice is a political scandal. Those concerned in this delay will not escape with their reputations intact if, on a careful review of their activities, it appears—as has been credibly alleged by Ms Kathy Jackson, the person who, other than Mr Craig Thomson, knows more about the affairs of the Health Services Union than anyone else—there has been political interference by the Rudd and Gillard governments, as well as institutional delay on the part of Fair Work Australia.

Justice delayed is justice denied. It is as much an outrage for there to be a deliberate delay in the prosecution of an investigation as for there to be a premature conclusion to that investigation. Where there is a political motive—where that fate of the government depends upon delay, when there are credible allegations of political interference, where there is a host of inconsistencies between the very limited accounts that those officers have given to the parliament—then we, the parliament and the Australian people, are entitled to conclude that Mr Craig Thomson is being protected by the very people who have a statutory function to engage in a quick, open and transparent investigation into his affairs. Because of their conduct, the Australian people will find it very difficult to maintain their confidence in the integrity of those involved.