Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great day when non-government bills pass this Senate. It shows that democracy is alive and well. The world is alert and alive to the con that is this government. They call themselves the most transparent government in history; the rest of the world disagrees. So I was pleased to see the passage of the last bill. But now, to speak on the Housing Investment Probity Bill 2024 brought forward by my colleague Senator Bragg, it's an important piece of legislation that relates to the governance of the HAFF and how those funds are to be used and distributed, what they can use those funds to invest in and what they cannot use those funds to invest in.

The bill in essence limits the capacity for the HAFF to invest in projects or entities associated with the CFMEU, which I think is a very sound measure to put in place. We are talking about, by extension, taxpayers money. Of course, we know how the HAFF was set up. It was money borrowed which was being paid for by the taxpayer of Australia ostensibly to construct homes, and here we are, a number of years on from the establishment of the HAFF, and we haven't got many homes, and they've had to borrow money to set up a fund to build these homes that aren't being built. Putting all of that to one side, how the funding is used and which organisations are able to access funds is important.

Across the country, there are extreme concerns about the operations of the CFMEU. In the state of Victoria, nothing short of corrupt activity is occurring when it comes to public infrastructure projects and goodness knows what else when it comes to construction. Prices have been blown out of the stratosphere because of the corrupt influence of an organisation of this nature. When you have union super funds linked to this union, and a fund of this nature controlled by the government, we need to ensure there are appropriate safeguards in place to ensure that taxpayers' money is protected. Whether it be money directly contributing to building homes or paying down the debt associated with the establishment of the HAFF, the Housing Australia Future Fund—which has yet to properly build enough homes for us given the government's target was 1.2 million homes over five years, which was the set target—we need to ensure they are putting in protections, which is what this bill seeks to do now.

Of course, the government will no doubt oppose this legislation. This is a government that can't be held to account on its targets because they mean nothing. They were just promises made at election time along with a range of other promises relating to the cost of living, power prices and the like. They don't care. They say these things at election time; there is no follow-through. There is no commitment to deliver on these things. Promises are just words, and those words are certainly not bonds, despite the claims by the Prime Minister to the contrary.

This government is in denial about so many things. They are in denial about what's happening when it comes to fuel in this country, which will have an impact on the construction industry. They are in denial about the impact that that crisis, which they have been caught flat-footed in responding to, will have on Australian households and businesses, including those seeking to build a home. They're in denial about the issues facing anyone who wants to build something in this country—around labour shortages, around the cost of materials and around delays in approvals. They are in denial about the ineffectiveness of their own schemes, and they're in denial about the corruption associated with the union, one of their paymasters, who can access funds from this program as at today, unless these laws pass the parliament.

They're also a government that's all about blame, not responsibility. When there's a problem, they look everywhere else: former governments, overseas conflicts, things outside of their control. It's always someone else's fault, and there is nothing this government can do or will do to address these issues. It's beyond our control; it's lamentable that you are all paying the price. This is not what governments should do.

Along with denial and blame, all of this sadly leads to an outcome for the Australian people, which is being let down. Again and again, Australians are being let down by this government, a government that has lost control of what it is they need to do in Australia's interests on housing, on fuel. Whatever the issue confronting Australians might be, and there are many, they are let down by a government that's lost control and has no plan to address these issues.

A government that is actually one of integrity, a government that is one that genuinely wants to resolve the issues that are at the heart of the housing crisis in this country, would support this legislation. It would cut out the cancerous influence of this union and its proxies when it comes to projects of a significant nature or even minor in nature. That example of cost blowouts of between $15 billion and $30 billion in Victoria—it's not just pretend money and it's not just some line in a press release or a news article; that is taxpayers' money that could have otherwise been spent on things that would be of benefit to the people of Victoria and the people of this country. Health infrastructure projects, public infrastructure, roads and rail, sports, public housing—all those sorts of things could've been done a lot better, and a lot more of them could have been undertaken and completed by now, if the influence of this corrupt organisation was cut out of public spending when it comes to infrastructure. I think that's why this legislation is so very important.

Again, as I say, this government is in denial. They spend all their time blaming everyone else, going deep into history. This government has been in power now for four years. We're approaching half a decade of Labor rule in this country, and, of course, it's still everyone else's fault in the past: former governments or overseas conflicts that started a long time ago. They've done nothing to offset the impact, and, as I say, Australians are being let down.

That is why the opposition, through our shadow minister Senator Bragg, have brought forward this very sensible legislation to ensure that we can control a government that would rather put the interests of their union paymasters ahead of the interests of Australians who can't get into houses, who can't afford to make ends meet every day of every week and who can't put fuel in the car, because, of course, they've been let down by a government that didn't think there was going to be a crisis, despite the months of notice that the rest of the world seemed to have to put in place measures to address what is now a terrible crisis. I really do implore this government to support Senator Bragg's bill, because it is the right thing to do. There is not a good reason to prevent the government supporting this legislation in the interests of good outcomes for our country—for those people who want to access housing and for those people who just want a fair go in this country. If they don't vote for it, well, again, it shows what their priorities are and how out of touch they are with Australians doing it tough. I hope they support the legislation.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the second reading on the Housing Investment Probity Bill 2024 be agreed to.