Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Attorney-General
Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
TRANSCRIPT
2GB with Michael McLaren
Topics: industrial relations
30 April 2024
E&OE.
Michael McLaren
There was the piece by David Marin Guzman in the Fin Review, where he said that the workplace watchdog has not filed, not filed a single new case against the CFMEU for 18 months. And in fact, worse than that has dropped 30% of the cases alleging construction union law breaking that they inherited from the old ABCC. Now the ABCC, the Australian Building Construction Commission was a fantastic entity with an extraordinary legal strike rate. But as I said in my preamble, the Labor Party didn’t get rid of it as basically their first act of government business because it was unsuccessful. It had a something like 90% win rate, they got rid of it because it was too successful. It was too successful at successfully prosecuting the big union donor of the Labor Party, which is the CFMEU. And when you give a lot of money to a political party, and I don’t care if it’s a bank or a union or a small business for that matter, you expect a return on that investment. You’re not a charity, you give money and you hope this side wins, and that they repaid the debt. Well, the government have certainly repaid the debt to the CFMEU and then some, Tony Burke, Anthony Albanese and others should hang their head in shame. Someone who knows this all too well. is Michaelia Cash. She is as you know, the Shadow Attorney-General the Workplace Relations Minister. Should she become not the Shadow but the actual Minister, she’ll have her work cut out for as soon as she gets back on the government benches. Michaelia, good to talk.
Senator Cash
Great to be with you. And what an absolute joke hey.
Michael McLaren
Well, it’s an expensive joke and a very dangerous joke.
Senator Cash 01:44
Yeah, it is. You know, Mr. Albanese in the first instance is too weak to stand up to the CFMEU to protect our economic recovery, and in particular, our construction industry. But you hit the nail on the head. You know they’re a loyal friend to the CFMEU – donation, donations to the Australian Labor Party. They’re certainly not a loyal friend to the Australian construction industry but more than that, you know the over 1.1 million Australian workers in the construction industry. I mean this story, what more do people need to understand, Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labour Party have proven time and time again, that they will always capitulate to their paymasters at the CFMEU. And as you said, I think it was one of, if not the first act of government, abolish the building watchdog and look where we are now.
Michael McLaren
Look where we’re at now. I guess the question is, has the CFMEU become such a good bunch of boys that all of a sudden there’s no need to drag them before courts or has the spine been missing in the Fair Work Ombudsman?
Senator Cash
Absolutely. And it is completely absurd that the Fair Work Ombudsman has not filed a single new case against the CFMEU for 18 month but it also dropped 30% of cases alleging the construction union law breaking it inherited from the ABCC after Labor’s election. And just look at Mr. Albanese says this was a politicized body. Well I say to Mr. Albanese, are you questioning the independence of our judiciary? Does Mr. Albanese as the Prime Minister believes that the courts were wrong when they found that the CFMEU were in breach of industrial laws. And the ABCC had successful outcomes in 98 of 107 cases, 2500 contraventions and almost 16 and a half million dollars in penalties were awarded in that time. So it was hardly a politicized body because that was the courts making those findings. But in relation to the powers of the Fair Work Ombudsman – well, they were completely stripped in the handover from the ABCC to the Fair Work Ombudsman. So in other words, the Albanese government hasn’t given the Fair Work Ombudsman the powers or the resources of the former ABCC. And it was a very deliberate action by the Albanese government, you know, to say thank you to the militant CFMEU for the millions of dollars.
Michael McLaren
Yeah, this is obvious you know in your face. I mean everyone can see it, but you see the Fair Work Ombudsman they may not be going after the union anymore, but they seem to be going after the employers. I mean, the Fin Review. They filed several new cases against construction employers in the last 18 months but haven’t found reason to do any against the CFMEU. I mean, don’t they know what’s going on in Queensland?
Senator Cash
Well, I have to say that is a very good question because as you know, the former ABCC they used to undertake regular site visits because if you don’t go to site, quite frankly, you don’t know what’s happening on the ground. In every estimates since this government was elected I’ve asked the Fair Work Ombudsman, how many site visits have you done? And the answer is they look at me and they say, that’s no longer part of our remit. How do you know what is going on on site if you are not out there visiting site? I mean, it would certainly appear to me that the Fair Work Ombudsman is just not up to the task of adequately policing the building and construction industry, but also the CFMEU. It would also appear that there are adverse to prosecuting cases against the CFMEU that were launched by the former Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Michael McLaren
Just how the current government likes it.
Michael McLaren
Now, here’s an interesting one for you. Texts are coming in as we speak – Steve, says this Michaelia, he says could the government decision to shut down the ABCC be referred to this newly formed Anti-Corruption Commission in Canberra? Good question.
Senator Cash
It was a policy decision by this government. I don’t stand by that policy decision, I think it was the wrong policy decision. But as I said, Mr. Albanese is too weak to stand up to the CFMEU, you know, to protect our building and construction industry, but also our economy. But Peter Dutton has made it very, very clear – we will stand up for the construction industry, we will stand up for the in excess of 1.1 million Australian workers in the industry, and in particular, the women and the ladies who go to work every single day. And we will ensure that there is a building watchdog with the appropriate powers. Absolutely.
Michael McLaren
But on that point with the Anti Corruption Commission. Okay, you’ve got an arrangement, it’s pretty straightforward. You’ve got a union that gives $6 million to a political party before an election, that said political party wins and does exactly what the union wants. They made it very publicly clear what they wanted. They wanted the ABCC abolished, they made that absolutely publicly crystal clear. It’s not a secret. So, they put the downpayment down, their mob wins, they get what they want. And it has an adverse effect on the Australian economy and building and construction sites. I mean, surely that is something that you could look into.
Senator Cash
Well again, this was a deliberate action by the Albanese government, we’ve always said it’s the agenda of the CFMEU, it’s to pay off through the militant CFMEU because they’ve donated millions of dollars to the Australian Labor Party over many years. I mean, that’s a decision for the National Anti-Corruption Commission, if there was a referral as to whether or not they would investigate it. But putting that aside, if you stand for the construction industry, if you stand with the workers of the construction industry, and protecting them from the militant actions of the CFMEU, you’ve got to vote for Peter Dutton and the Liberal Coalition. Because as we’ve said, we will stand up to the CFMEU – I’ve done it before Michael, I will protect our economy, I will protect the industry and we will do that. But Mr. Albanese I mean, if Mr. Albanese gets a second term in government, can you honestly imagine the damage that they will wreak to the construction industry but more than that the economy more generally, if they were to get a second term.
Michael McLaren
Right well just finally then let’s assume you get back onto the government benches sooner rather than later in the cycle. Will the ABCC come back under a Dutton government?
Senator Cash
We have been very, very clear, yes, we will restore the building watchdog. Why? Because we will stand up for the in excess of 1.1 million Australian workers in the construction industry. We will stand up for all Australians to ensure that they are not paying more for their hospitals, not pay more for their schools, not paying more for the road. We will stand up in particular for the women in the construction industry who have been subjected to for such a long period of time, the most grotesque of behavior. The building watchdog is the last line of defense between a vibrant building sector and the chaos and delays caused by you know, a union-run Labor government. So yes, we will stand up for the building and construction industry, for the tradies, for the workers and for the women. And yes, there will be a building watchdog with teeth.
Michael McLaren
Great to talk as always Michaelia, thank you for your time.
Senator Cash
Always great to be with you.
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