Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash
Shadow Attorney-General
Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Senator for Western Australia
Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development
Leader of the Nationals in the Senate
Senator for Victoria
TRANSCRIPT
TOPICS: CFMEU, REX AIRLINES, CHILDCARE WORKERS PAY RISE, MINING PRODUCTION CREDITS, PUBLIC SERVANTS WORKING FROM HOME, ALAN JOYCE’S PAYOUT, PAY ON DELAY BILL, VICTORIAN HEALTH FUNDING
Wodonga, VIC
8 AUGUST 2024
E&EO
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Well, another day and another allegation of criminal behaviour by the CFMEU here in Australia. And that is despite the Albanese government making big claims that they’re going to clean this up. But the reality is Labor Party ministers rely on the CFMEU for their pre selection. So, there is a terrible conflict of interest inherent in the Labor Party, state or federal trying to clean up the CFMEU.
We’ve seen allegations of apprentices being traumatised by on site behaviour from CFMEU operatives to the point of committing suicide. We’ve seen Indigenous building companies locked out of contractual arrangements and we’ve seen taxpayers’ money wasted on public projects right around the country. The reality is on CFMEU controlled projects the price goes up by 30% at least. That is less hospitals being built, less schools and less roads for the Australian Commonwealth taxpayers’ dollar, and that has to stop.
We know that the Fair Work Commission does not have the investigative or the enforcement powers required to clean this mess up. And we’ve heard story after story from contractors, from building operators, from apprentices and workers, and public officials about the atrocious and appalling behaviour of CFMEU officials. Australians don’t mind paying a lot of tax if it’s going to help vulnerable Australians, build hospitals, schools and roads. They don’t want to see their taxpayer dollars going to the back pockets of bikie gangs and Mafioso. That is what they don’t want to see.
And if the Labor Party can’t clean this up, which it’s clear from allegations again in the papers today they can’t, then we will be moving for a Senate inquiry next week in the Australian Senate. An inquiry that will provide the protections required to witnesses. We can subpoena witnesses who don’t want to give evidence. We can provide the protections of parliamentary privilege to evidence and witnesses who don’t want to make it publicly known that they’ve got concerns about the CFMEU’s behaviour. And we can actually hear evidence in camera to provide that protection, again.
So if the Labor Party won’t do its job, if the Fair Work Commission can’t do its job, in this regard, then the Parliament of Australia needs to use the powers we have available to us to do the job on the behalf of the Australian taxpayer. Cashie.
MICHAELIA CASH
Thank you. Well, there’s no two ways about it, Mr Albanese and the Australian Labor Party are beholden to the CFMEU. Look at what Mr Albanese has said versus Mr Albanese’s actions. Their pre selections in the Australian Labor Party are still controlled by the CFMEU. They still take money, the Australian Labor Party, from the CFMEU, they have taken absolutely no action to date to curtail this behaviour and the fact that Murray Watt is now the Minister in charge is quite frankly a joke. Murray Watt championed, in fact he was the key champion of getting rid of the ABCC in the Senate. Murray Watt was the key champion in ensuring that the former Coalition Government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill did not get up. Murray Watt was one of the key players in Estimates in taking on Nigel Hadgkiss, the former commissioner of the ABCC, who was just trying to do his job.
So judge Labor by their actions and not their weasel words. The only people who are missing out because of Labor’s inaction, the Australian taxpayer, mum and dad Australia, who it is a fact pay up to 30% more for their schools, for their roads and for their hospitals. Why? Because Labor has for years now condoned the actions of the CFMEU and we all know why, it is the millions and millions of dollars that have flowed directly from the coffers of the CFMEU to the Australian Labor Party in excess of $4 million since Mr Albanese became Prime Minister and in excess of $6 million since he became the Opposition Leader.
Minister Watt says he’ll bring forward legislation next week. Let me be very clear, Minister Watt has had no contact with my office, it’s as simple as that. But more than that, he can bring forward whatever legislation he likes in relation to the administration of the CFMEU. If he does not put in place the legislation to bring back the tough cop on the beat. But more than that, to hold these Union officials to account and to actually clean up the system, the administration is worth nothing.
So all of the Australian people will see next week whether Mr Albanese and Labor are serious about cleaning up the CFMEU or it’s merely words and nothing more, and we just have to remember the only people who suffer as a result of this are the Australian people, who are denied because of Mr Albanese and the Australian Labor Party, the additional hospitals, the additional roads and the additional schools that they so desperately need.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Any questions?
REPORTER
So I was going to say, in that context, obviously we’ve got the proposal for the Albury Wodonga Hospital and there’s crying out for more money for that and building it on a Greenfield site. Can you tie that in with what you’ve just said about money being lost to services?
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Well, we know here in Victoria alone, at the last federal budget, there’s an additional $10.1 billion given to state governments around the country for cost overruns on publicly funded infrastructure projects, not one extra kilometre built, not one extra hospital built, not one extra school, not one extra brick laid as a result of that $10.1 billion. Here in Victoria, it was a lazy $5 billion given to Jacinta Allan for cost overruns on publicly funded projects.
So if you want to again understand how the Labor Party works, look at what they do, not what they say. So, they’ll come out here to our communities and talk a big game about regional hospitals and regional healthcare. Well, where is their commitment to funding? Because the reality is they’re in power here in Victoria, they’re in power in NSW and they’re in power federally. You had a Labor Party Senator here this morning, did she come with a bag of money?
So we want to make sure, the Coalition wants to make sure that the Commonwealth taxpayer gets value for money. People work hard for that, they’re prepared to pay their taxes to support the more vulnerable and get the critical infrastructure we need. That’s why when the CFMEU ticket price is another 30%, it’s the Australian taxpayers that are paying too much and we can’t afford the critical infrastructure we need in communities like this.
REPORTER
Ms Cash, do you think the CFMEU ACT should be included in the Fair Work Commission administration?
MICHAELIA CASH
It is beyond a joke that the Australian Labor Party are not putting the entire CFMEU into deregistration. Their administration of certain parts is nothing more than an excuse to back in their key donors. But as I said, it’s not just about deregistering the Union, it is about cleaning up the Industrial Relations system to ensure this never happens again. But also ensuring that there is a tough cop on the beat in the construction industry.
Even former prime ministers Rudd and Gillard understood that the construction industry needed a watchdog because they had one in place. The first thing Mr Albanese did when he came to office was to hand the construction industry in Australia to John Setka on a silver platter. They abolished the Australian Building and Construction Commission. We said to them at the time this will have disastrous results, but in particular, the now Minister Murray Watt, as I said, the greatest champion the CFMEU will ever have in the Australian Senate is Murray Watt. And quite frankly, it is now laughable that he has been given the job by Mr Albanese to allegedly clean them up. Seriously, judge them by their actions and not their words, and we’ll be watching their actions very carefully next week.
REPORTER
And what’s your reaction today to the Government giving childcare workers a 15% pay rise?
MICHAELIA CASH
Look, everybody in Australia understands, a. our childcare workers do an outstanding job and b. they need a pay rise, however, you need to look at the announcement. Childcare workers in Australia are currently in the middle of a multi employer bargaining process. Why did Mr Albanese not wait for the outcome of a process that he put in place, the multi employer bargaining process. He needs to answer those questions.
How can you guarantee to the Australian people that this will now also not be inflationary in an already inflationary environment. But on top of that, unless Mr Albanese tackles what Michele Bullock, as a Reserve Bank Governor says is home grown inflation, let’s put that into basic English, Mr Albanese, your policies are causing prices to go up. This wage increase is going to mean nothing for these workers.
So in the first instance, Mr Albanese needs to explain why he jumped the gun on the multi employer bargaining process, but also how is the Australian taxpayer going to pay for this increase, because that’s who’s paying for it.
REPORTER
Where do you stand on whether mining companies should get production credits?
MICHAELIA CASH
Peter Dutton has been very, very clear. We back our mining industry every single step of the way. And he also was in Western Australia last week for five days, and as he made clear in Western Australia, a strong Western Australian mining industry equals a strong Australian economy. But we’ve also been clear, and Bridget knows this well, the mining sector has told us if you don’t get the basic fundamentals right, if you don’t reduce the red tape, if you don’t reduce the green tape, if you don’t streamline dramatically the approvals process, we’re never going to get the investment in Australia in these industries. And quite frankly you’re not going to get to the stage where you’re actually producing to get a production tax credit. So, we will bring out a policy, Peter has made that clear. But I can tell you, it’ll be a policy that gets the basic fundamentals right. Because if you don’t get the basic fundamentals right, you don’t get investment in Australia.
REPORTER
So your thoughts on the federal public servants and if they should return to the office?
MICHAELIA CASH
You mean to work? Yes, absolutely, absolutely. Of course they should return to work. It is a great privilege to be a federal public servant in Australia. And with that privilege does come responsibility, and that means, yes, you should front up to the office everyday. I am a great believer in flexibility in the workplace, but to literally have departments saying they cannot get their staff back into the office, I’m sorry, that is unacceptable, it really is.
REPORTER
Senator McKenzie, do you think as well, Rex’s demise could have all been avoided had we have had a aviation ombudsman?
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
So, Rex being placed into administration is a tragedy. This is the second airline placed into administration under Anthony Albanese’s tenure in the last four months, hundreds of Australian jobs at risk as a result. Those of us that live in the regions know that we need a competitive domestic aviation industry, to keep prices low and make sure we have more choice of destinations. And that those of us that live in the regions can get to the capital cities to access much needed healthcare, work opportunities and employment opportunities.
In terms of Rex, we’ve put on the table to the Australian Government a raft of measures, for over 2 years, of measures they could have adopted to actually make our aviation sector more competitive, to actually give Rex the support it needed to take it up to Qantas on those capital city routes, and they’ve ignored that, they’ve ignored that.
None of that would have been solved with an ombudsman at all. To get a competitive aviation industry, currently we’ve got 92% of the industry locked into two players, Qantas and Virgin. If that was supermarkets, we’d be taking a sledgehammer to it on behalf of the Australian travelling public. It’s highly consolidated and that has a whole flow on effects on choice and price. But when it comes to, given it’s so consolidated, given that only two companies hold 92% of the aviation industry, it is a beholden that we need a Pay on Delay piece of legislation, which I’ve got in the Senate right now. This will be being debated next week. We’ve got a Senate inquiry in Sydney on our pay on delay legislation tomorrow.
What the Pay on Delay is actually saying, is that the Australian travelling public, if Qantas or Virgin, if an if an airline flight is delayed then you need to pay up and compensate the traveller. If you lose our bags, guess what, if it’s your fault, we deserve compensation. Qantas and Virgin and other airlines that fly overseas are subject to pay on delay provisions, in Europe and the US. We need those provisions here at home and this is why I’ve put them forward to the Senate, and I look forward to the Labor Party supporting them as a way to give better outcomes to Australian travellers.
REPORTER
Absolutely. Do you think Rex workers are being left in limbo by the government? They can’t even access the assistance scheme yet.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Yeah, absolutely. I think it is appalling, this government’s response to the troubles at Rex. The Prime Minister stood up and blamed Rex and the workers for this malaise, when in fact there was significant changes the government could have made over the last two years to make it easier to compete against Qantas on capital City routes on a raft of measures and they didn’t do it. You know why, because they’ve been running a protection racket for Qantas since the day they came into Parliament.
We’ve seen it on their failure to drag Alan Joyce before the Senate to answer serious questions about his conduct while CEO. We’ve seen it with their refusal to put aviation in their competition review until we embarrass them into it. And time and time again, we’ve seen them blame Rex and the workers for this outcome rather than take responsibility to make the changes that needed to happen. And we stand with the workers of Rex, there’s over 600 workers whose jobs are on the line right now. And if Rex is to fail, it will be absolutely catastrophic for regional Australia. It’s up to the government to step in and do something about it, not weasel words.
REPORTER
Sorry, I was gonna say, do you fear that Rex may have went out of… [inaudible]… as part of a restructure?
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Well, they’ve already had to pull out of the most lucrative routes and that’s the capital city routes. So, remember when Rex took Qantas on, Virgin was grounded. And Mr Albanese preferred for Qantas to just keep ripping Australian customers off, keep losing our bags, keep delaying our flights. That was actually the situation in airports across the country when Rex decided to do this. What we need to do is have a competitive aviation industry. We in Albury. Wodonga know when we’ve got one airline flying into town, we all pay more and can have less choice about the times we need to travel. When we get Virgin and Rex and Qantas into town we have much more choice and lower airfares, which is actually what we need because we need to access health specialists, family and friends, employment opportunities and not just the freight task as well out of our region.
REPORTER
And what is your reaction to Qantas slashing Alan Joyce’s multi million dollar payout?
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Yeah, slow clap. I think it’s been appalling for a long period of time the payout that Mr Joyce received, the golden parachute that the Qantas Board gave him when he ended as CEO was exorbitant. In the mean time, he leaves them with an ACCC court case, he tried to pocket hundreds of millions of dollars of COVID flight credits of Qantas and Jetstar customers. That’s the reality of the behaviour that was being exhibited. And yet he exits with a golden parachute in excess of $20 million.
So whilst I welcome the decision, it has been too slow in coming. The Labor Party has refused time and time again to bring Alan Joyce back to the Senate to be subjected to public questioning of his behaviour and the way he ran Qantas. So, we would like to see the Labor Party join us in bringing him back. But it’s a great outcome, but I think Australians will be rightfully cynical about a Board who’s taken too long to recognise that the rest of Australia is in the middle of a cost of living crisis and that Alan Joyce’s golden parachute was a bridge too far.
REPORTER
Just back to that question in relation to whether a reshaped Rex may only be supported by the government on routes it already has a monopoly on as opposed to other routes. Do you think that’s a possibility, that the government may look at rather than sort of necessarily say, oh well, they’ve already got Qantas on that route, they don’t need Rex on that route.
BRIDGET MCKENZIE
Well, I think that would be an absolutely appalling outcome for our businesses in Australia to be dictated to by the Prime Minister about where they can fly and what they can do. Let’s be really, really honest about why Anthony Albanese is wanting to restrict Rex’s opportunity to compete. It’s because Rex thought they could actually compete with Qantas, and Qantas didn’t like it. You talked about the slots into Sydney. Guess who makes the decisions on that, a company majority owned by Qantas and Virgin. That’s the reality. Minister King and Prime Minister Albanese could have changed that in the last two years, they’ve had a review recommending changes to that arrangement sitting on their desk for two years. They’ve done nothing. Just like they protect the CFMEU, they’re protecting their mate Alan Joyce and Qantas’ market share, and the only people that miss out are the Australian travelling public.
ENDS
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