Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Ananda-Rajah, thank you for your beautiful tribute to Chris.

I rise to speak today on two matters—first on the Lakemba branch of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party. I have been to Lakemba many times, and it is a vibrant part of Sydney. I am not afraid of going to Lakemba—in fact, I quite like going there—and I love the Lakemba branch of the Liberal Party. For the fourth consecutive year last week, I was a guest at their annual iftar dinner. It was a wonderful occasion filled with many members of the local community and elected representatives. These people came together from many different backgrounds and many different faiths. It was a great celebration of such a vibrant and important part of the multicultural tapestry that is Australia—multicultural Australia. I want to pay particular tribute to Mohammad Zaman, the president of the Lakemba branch; and his branch executive for their leadership in bringing people together. Mohammad is a hardworking and committed leader of the Bangladeshi Australian community.

This dinner reinforced for me the importance of respecting and understanding our differences and celebrating the things that unite us: a love of our country and its values, a fair go and, particularly, the freedom to practise our own faith. Just because something is different to what we know or understand does not mean that it is bad. We are a young country that has been built on the aspiration and hard work of those who have come here to create a better life, much like my own family, and that is something good. That is something to be proud of, and it is something to be protected.

I now turn to the CFMEU. Recently, Australians have rightly been shocked and disturbed by the further allegations about the CFMEU's corrupt and criminal conduct. In particular, what we have seen in Victoria is mind-boggling. Disturbing revelations of up to $15 billion of taxpayer funds being funnelled into corrupt and criminal enterprises rightly raise significant questions about just how much of a blind eye this government is turning to what is occurring right in front of them. This deliberate cover-up of cartel corruption demanded answers from the Albanese Labor government, but all we have seen is silence and equivocation, not just from the federal Labor government but from the Victorian state government as well.

This Labor government isn't interested in the truth, because their mates in the CFMEU are up to their eyeballs in what is going on here, and we all know that. Twice last year, I called on the Senate to establish an inquiry into the CFMEU. Twice, the Labor Party and the Greens teamed up to block any inquiry.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a protection racket.

Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Exactly. Why? Is it a coincidence that the two parties that blocked the Senate inquiry both receive financial contributions or donations from the CFMEU? I don't think it's a coincidence, but it's up to you to make up your own minds. Guess what? Australians have made up their minds. Just over a week ago, I launched a petition calling on Labor and the Greens to support a Senate inquiry into the CFMEU, because, if we can't convince them in this chamber, perhaps Australians can convince them, and guess what? In just over a week, we've received over 8,000 signatures, and that number is growing by the day.

The Australian people are fed up with this, and the Labor government should stop turning a blind eye to what is happening here. This is costing Australians more for the construction of homes in the housing shortage that we are seeing. This needs to stop, and the billions of dollars of taxpayer funds being funnelled into these rotten enterprises also needs to end.