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

Unfortunately, yes, I am. I can inform the Senate that the Federal Court has today imposed fines on the CFMEU and 10 of its officials, including the notorious Luke Collier, Darren Greenfield and Brian Parker, in excess of $2.4 million for repeated and egregious breaches of workplace laws on the Barangaroo site in Sydney.

The comments made by Justice Flick in his decision are damning and include the following:

… the CFMEU has long demonstrated by its conduct that it pays but little regard to compliance with the law and indeed has repeatedly sought to place itself above the law.

And said that the CFMEU is to be regarded as a 'recidivist offender'. He continues:

It is difficult, if not impossible, to envisage any worse conduct than that pursued by the CFMEU.

The CFMEU assumes a prominent role in the industrial affairs of this country and has consistently exhibited a contempt for compliance with the law.

The conduct of its officers and employees has consistently shown a total contempt for the rights of occupiers and a total contempt for the constraints imposed by the law.

It goes on and on for pages and pages:

…the conduct for which the CFMEU assumes liability—

which is now approximately $2.4 million—

in the present proceeding shows a further and serious contempt for the law.

And what do we have from those on the other side, colleagues? Laughter. Absolute laughter. This is the most militant union in the country, which now has tens of millions of dollars in fines against it, and those on the other side can do nothing more than laugh.