Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will ignore the smart remarks in this chamber—

The TEMPORARY CHAIR: That would be helpful.

because they are not worth acknowledging. My father worked 106 hours a week for 25 years to provide for his family. I know what it is to work. I will support the workers in this nation, and that is why I believe I am making the right decisions with this bill. If small and medium-sized business get out there and put themselves into debt to go and start their businesses, you will not have jobs for workers; and, if we do not protect that, we are going to have foreign investors coming into this country and bringing in their own workers. So there has to be a balance, and I am looking for the balance.

Like I said, with union members before the courts, the facts and figures show you. I have spoken to businesspeople, and one businessperson said to me, 'We had them there and they weren't going to work. They came into the office and they said, "Okay, if you want our workers here, we want a cheque for $5,000 written out,"' to pay the union membership fees of the workers that were there. I heard from another businessperson who said they delivered the concrete, but halfway through the pour they stopped. He said, 'We actually had to lose that money.'

That is what they do. It is all through intimidation, and we cannot allow that. We cannot have unions running and controlling this country. We have a job to do here. I do not believe in intimidation. If they want to have a go at me, that will not stop me. I will not be threatened. I will not be intimidated. I am here to do a job for the people of this country. You may not always agree with everything I say or do, but I will not lie to the people and I will not do the wrong thing by the people, because I have too much respect for this position. But, if those on the other side of the chamber want to have a go at me or tell their lies or their old rhetoric because they are buying votes out there and are not doing the right thing by the people of this country, then—heaven help them—I do not believe they should be here. This is too much of an important decision. I do support this bill and I will continue to support it.

I will not allow myself or any of my fellow senators to be intimidated. If they intimidate us this time they will do it next time when there is anything on the floor of this parliament that does not suit them. So I ask Senator Hinch and Senator Xenophon to stand strong on what their beliefs are and what they truly believe is right for the Australian people. Do not be intimidated by this because they will do it next time and they will continue to do it on and on.

To the people of Australia who may be listening to this: you may have your doubts about it, but I am trying to do the best that I possibly can to make the right decisions on your behalf. I believe that this is right for future generations, for work that needs to be done and to provide work for Australians. I will stand by that. I am not going to see Australian workers go down, and I would not support anything if I thought they were going to be wrongly done by. We have arbitration and industrial relations—all of that is in place. But I think that we need to protect Australian jobs and I think this is the way of doing it, not by letting the unions control this country.