Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am told it does. So how come the Health Services Union is in the mess that it is in? It is almost bankrupt because a couple of its leaders were fiddling the books and using the moneys contributed to the union by some of the lowest paid workers in Australia. This money was being criminally misspent.

Senator Gallacher interjecting—

I hear a Labor member saying, 'Yes, well, we don't agree with HSU either.' Thanks for coming on board, but it is a bit late. Remember how you all defended Mr Thomson and the way he acted as a representative of the Health Services Union? Remember every time you objected to any proper inquiry into it? Remember that? You cannot forget that.

This is not just about the Health Services Union. Senators will be aware that the Fair Work Commission has recently launched proceedings against the Musicians Union of Australia and that it currently has inquiries or investigations into the Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union; the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation; the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia; the Flight Attendants Association of Australia; the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia; the Australian Nursing Federation; and the Australian Childcare Centres Association. So it is not confined to the Health Services Union. You cannot tell me that what Mr Williamson, the former president of the Australian Labor Party, and Mr Craig Thomson did to the HSU is a one-off event. You cannot tell me that in the whole union movement, across the spectrum, that is a one-off event. Clearly, there has been no accountability in the union movement.