Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Seselja for this very important question. The front page of today's Australian newspaper says it all: 'Labor hands unions veto power over who gets work in the ACT.' Clearly those on the other side and their cronies in the ACT government have learned nothing flowing from the Heydon royal commission, in which we saw secret deal after secret deal exposed, all of them without any benefit to the workers. What do we now have? We have a memorandum of understanding. It is signed—it has been executed—by the Chief Minister, Mr Barr, on 26 March 2015, and on behalf of also UnionsACT. It is an official agreement between the ACT Labor government and the unions. Do you know what it does, Mr President? It sets out in detail the terms and conditions under which the ACT government agencies are to undertake procurement activity—at the behest of the unions, in black and white. Mr President, here is a clause for you. It states that the ACT agencies must 'decline to award a tender proposal for ACT government works or services'—colleagues on this side will be interested—if the tenderer does not agree to meet a checklist of union demands. It is in black and white in the memorandum of understanding. What is worse, it also allows the unions to have access to employee records, including the names, home numbers and addresses of the employees themselves—in black and white, signed by the Chief Minister. (Time expired)