Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a well-known fact of this place that I do not take adjournment very often, and, if I do, most people duck or get ready to sue me. But anyway, let's have a crack. I sat in your position yesterday, Mr Acting Deputy President Edwards, and I had to listen to a speech from Senator Canavan. I have to be honest with you. We all get tapped on the shoulder now and again: 'Go down there, make a contribution, burn up a bit of time, pretend you know what you're talking about.' Those of us who do not know what we are talking about will follow the script. Sadly, Senator Canavan did not, in my opinion. But he will have a chance to square the ledger with me; I am sure there are no dramas.

But I have to say, I could have chewed through a piece of two-by-four yesterday listening to some of the contributions and facts and figures that came from Senator Canavan. I just want to share this with you. Senator Canavan was talking about one of my favourite subjects. He had obviously had the call to go in there and chuck a hand grenade—and this is my opinion—and try to win over some of the crossbenchers to support Senator Abetz's burning desire to get rid of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal—because we cannot have truckies getting paid! We cannot have the likes of Coles and transport companies paying their drivers to make sure that our roads are safe, make sure that our truckies are not overloading, make sure they are not speeding or taking illicit drugs or being forced to take shortcuts in terms of repairs and maintenance!

Senator Canavan made the fatal mistake of grabbing a figure—and I do not know where he got this figure—and, in his desire to belittle the fine work of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, thought it was clever, in his opinion, to attack three members of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal. One of them I do not know. Two of them I know very, very well, and most people in this chamber know one of them extremely well and hold that former senator in very high regard.

I do not have a lot of time, but I am going to spend the time sharing with other senators in this place the backgrounds of three of the people Senator Canavan attacked. He talked about Jennifer Acton, the president, who is the Hon. Jennifer Acton. Her husband was Bill Shorten's office manager. Senator Canavan had a crack at her. He also mentioned a former senator of this place and former TWU boss, Steve Hutchins, as being on the tribunal. He went on to mention Paul Ryan, who represents an employer body and is also 'reportedly close to the Transport Workers Union' and he said, 'All of these people are being paid in the order of $95,000 to sit on the tribunal.' Well, let's clear the air. Everyone knows that I am ex-TWU. Everyone knows I am a life member of the TWU. And everyone knows that I am an ex-truck driver. I did not go through university and say, 'Ooh, I think I want to be a senator'; I actually worked for a living—like some of my colleagues in this place, not all of them, but some, and like you too, Mr Acting Deputy President, and Senator Bilyk and everyone in the chamber now, and Senator Wacka Williams. Okay, we've got that one out of the way!

Firstly, Ms Acton—the Hon. Jennifer Acton—is a senior deputy president of Fair Work Australia. She has previously been the head of the Termination of Employment Panel and currently serves on the Industries Panel and the Organisations Panel. President Acton is also a member of the advisory board for the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law and the editorial committee for the Australian Journal of Labour Law. Since 1992 President Acton has also been a senior deputy president of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. She was an industrial advocate for the ACTU for 10 years, and has a wealth of workplace relations experience. Nothing about TWU there.

Let us go on to another fellow who I do know very, very well—Mr Paul Ryan. I classify him as a good bloke, a mate. He gave me a few blues in Perth and a few brawls in his previous life at Mayne Nickless, and I will tell you what—he left me wounded a couple of times. I would not call him a great friend of the TWU, but I will let you decide. Paul Ryan has 20 years experience in industrial and workplace relations in the transport and logistics industry. He holds qualifications in commerce and law. After working for 10 years in the Commonwealth public service he joined Mayne Nickless, where he had responsibility for industrial relations in the freight and logistics group of that company—and I had plenty of experiences with him when he was with Mayne Nickless and they weren't all good, I am telling you, for me.

He currently operates his own consultancy, Strategic Industrial Planning Services Pty Ltd, which provides industrial relations advice and assistance to companies—not to truckies, but to companies—working in the freight and logistics industry. He is national industrial adviser for the Australian Road Transport Industrial Organisation, which is not some mad left-wing union group of truckies who want to bash up bosses.

Let's get to my old mate, a mentor of mine, and a damned good bloke—former Senator Steve Hutchins. He had a crack at Steve as well, or 'Hutcho', as we have lovingly called him all of the years we have known him. Steve Hutchins is a former senator in the federal parliament representing New South Wales from 1998 to 2011. Amongst his various committee appointments he was a member of the Senate committee on road transport. He currently tutors in industrial relations at RMIT University. His experience with road transport began in 1977 at the transport company TNT—actually, so did mine; I did not know that—before becoming an official with the Transport Workers' Union New South Wales branch as assistant secretary and then secretary-treasurer. He subsequently became the federal president of the TWU as a senior member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. So if you want to have a crack, Senator Canavan, about my old mate Hutcho being close to the TWU, well, duh—we all knew that. But it is grossly unfair to attack Paul Ryan and accuse Mrs Jennifer Acton, or President Acton, of being TWU gumbies. I will chuck the 'gumby' word in, although he did not say that, but I have insinuated it.

There was another misleading of the Senate, where you said they get $95,000. I thought: 'Crikey, Hutcho—if we could do a swap, that is not a bad gig, and you can have the Senate spot.' So I rang former senator Steve Hutchins, who wished he was getting paid $95,000 a year. I just want to correct the record and, Senator Canavan: don't make up figures, mate. It can get you into a lot of trouble. This is taxpayers' money, and I have it here from former senator Hutchins—he is paid $40,960 to be a member of that brilliant committee that is trying desperately hard to keep our roads safe, and there is a $615 meeting fee.

There was a number of other ridiculous statements Senator Canavan made. In fact, if I wasn't sitting in your spot, I would have challenged him to take 40 steps to the right and make the statement out there where he is not protected by parliamentary privilege. I reckon he would have panicked and not done it. He also says—and I have to agree with him here—that 1217 people from the 12 months from March last year to this year have been killed in traffic accidents; spot on. He also says that his father-in-law is a truck driver; I reckon he must be a good bloke, then. And his uncle is a truck driver, so he must be a good bloke, too.

But if you are going to start talking as a truckie, let's be fair. There is only a handful of us in this place who could talk like that. Senator Williams is one, I am the other, and Senator Gallacher. We could probably find another truckie if we looked hard enough—maybe they drove a five-tonner at university, I don't know. But it is really disingenuous for any senator to come in here and cast ridiculous aspersions on people who are chosen for these positions. You may not like the legislation, those on that side. You may have difficulty with the thought of a road safety remuneration tribunal, which most of you, or some of you, have shared with us, and that is fine. But you don't, because you get the tap from the whip, come in here and start throwing mud around when it is ridiculously way off mark.

I want to take this opportunity in the adjournment speech tonight to talk about the wonderful opportunity that I have taking kids on World War I tours through France and Belgium visiting numerous Commonwealth cemeteries where all of those brave boys now lie. I will get the opportunity again, hopefully, soon. But I could not let Senator Canavan's wild and ridiculous statements pass through this chamber, and I know I will be joined by you, Mr President. I certainly would not put words in your mouth, but to even try to degrade former Senator Hutchins, whom we all know and whose fine work we respect, is just a little bit out there.

We have all ridden the rough and tumble; we have all had a good crack at each other here. Fortunately, most of it is smoke and mirrors and all for show—behind the scenes, we all respect each other—and most of us have relationships where, once we leave this place, there is something more important than sitting across the chamber throwing rocks at each other. It is our families that we go home to. But I just wanted to correct the record. Senator Canavan, I am happy to have another conversation with you. I acknowledge that you have been elected by the people of Queensland—good on you. Get your facts right. Get the figures right. It doesn't do any favours making it up.(Time expired)