E&OE
Oliver Peterson
Michaelia Cash, good afternoon.
Senator Cash
Good afternoon Ollie.
Oliver Peterson
Why is the Australian Building and Construction Commission so important?
Senator Cash
Well this is the tough cop on the beat in the building and construction industry. You know, it is almost an act of economic vandalism that the Labor Party are moving, as one of its first acts in government, to abolish the tough cop on the beat. What we are now going to see is going back to the good old days of chaos, thuggery and intimidation in Australia’s building industry, under Labor. And Ollie I’ve spoken to a lot of stakeholders today. The feeling within the building industry and the business community is just one of total confusion, given that the announcement was only made on Sunday and industry was not consulted. There’s no orderly transition period. This is just a rushed decision, because they are beholden, the Australian Labor Party, to their paymasters, the CFMMEU.
Oliver Peterson
We’ve seen this before by Labor, and when you were in government back in 2016, the ABCC was restored. But did it do what your government intended for it to do and boost productivity when you were in power?
Senator Cash
Yes, it did. And the Master Builders Association of Australia, they’ve actually conducted economic modeling they had undertaken by EY, Ernst and Young. And what they found was that scrapping a specialist construction regulator will actually drive up inflation, just when the Reserve Bank is increasing interest rates to tackle inflation. And it will actually result in a reduction in economic activity by around $47.5 billion by 2030. But what they also found is that this act by Labor will drive up the cost of constructing. The substantial pipeline of infrastructure, we’re talking health, we’re talking defence, we’re talking aged care. You know, we’re talking transport projects, who pays for it at the end of the day? It’s called the Australian taxpayer. It is just an act of economic vandalism.
Oliver Peterson
Those projects will still go ahead. The government says the Fair Work Ombudsman will just do the work of the ABCC.
Senator Cash
Yeah, well, you see, unfortunately, the government are wrong. The idea that the Fair Work Ombudsman can take over the role, you know, from this week is just plain wrong. The Fair Work Ombudsman is not set up to do this work. So what you’re going to see is there’s going to be a period of time where there is absolutely no oversight of the building industry in Australia. You know, in terms of the legal proceedings that are underway, you know, and these are very serious legal proceedings. Mr. Burke says the FWO can take them over. Again, he is just wrong. This can’t happen without an amendment to the act because the Fair Work Ombudsman needs to be given the powers to take over legal actions already commenced. They have no ability to prosecute under the building code of the ABCC act. So Mr. Burke is misleading the Australian people with his claims.
Oliver Peterson
So you would restore it?
Senator Cash
Absolutely. But why would we restore it? And the reason is, you need a tough cop on the beat. The ABCC have been successful in 91% of the cases that they have brought before the court. Now that is the courts of Australia. Australian courts saying to the ABCC, based on the evidence that you have brought before us, we are finding in your favor. They have awarded around $16 million in penalties, the majority against that recidivist union, the CFMMEU. And in relation to wages and entitlements, the ABCC have actually got on behalf of employees around $5 million that they were owed for subcontractors in the last financial year alone in terms of progress payments that were not going to be made. The ABCC has successfully gone and got around $5 million in progress payments. So again, this is an act of economic vandalism, you know, the fifth largest industry in Australia, you know, they contribute around 8% of GDP. They employ around 1.1 million Australians. And as of tomorrow, the Albanese Government handing them back over to the most militant union in Australia, the CFMMEU.
Oliver Peterson
On a couple of other matters, Senator Cash, should the border to Indonesia be shut over these Foot and Mouth Disease threats?
Senator Cash
Oh, well, you know, Murray Watt is without a doubt an incompetent minister. Too little too late, quite frankly, is his mantra. They have promised a whole lot of measures would be put in place. They have not been put in place. You call for the borders to be closed when you have absolutely no faith in the current government. And we have absolutely no faith that the current government is taking the potential bringing in of Foot and Mouth Disease to Australia seriously. Ollie, I was lucky enough to actually get up to Bali. I entered Australia via Perth, the Perth airport, on the 17th of July. I sailed through. Where were the measures that the minister had been referring to. If this disease gets into Australia, it will decimate our industry. Too little, too late.
Oliver Peterson
The asylum seeker boat leak stunt by the former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, was that the last ditch effort of a dying government on election day?
Senator Cash
No, absolutely not. And as the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, who was the former minister, has already outlined: the request for a factual media release from the department was well within the then minister’s remit. And the report that has now been handed down clearly shows caretaker guidelines were not breached. I’m incredibly proud to be part of the former government that made it very clear to Australians, you know, we control who comes here and the circumstances in which they come. But more than that, the security of our nation, and the security of Australians was the fundamental priority for the former Coalition Government.
Oliver Peterson
Did you have knowledge of this until the report on Friday?
Senator Cash
I did not know other than statements that have been made by the minister, or the now shadow minister.
Oliver Peterson
If you had that knowledge, would you have done something similar if you were the Home Affairs Minister at the time?
Senator Cash
Well again, previous publications on turn backs and boat stoppages, they were done in the interest of transparency and deterrence and that’s actually stipulated in the report. You know, the occurrence of a boat arrival on election day, it was actually, Ollie, unprecedented. And the information that was provided by the government at the time was in the interest of transparency. But again, go to the report, the report clearly states the request for a factual media release from the department was well within the then ministers remit and again the report clearly shows that caretaker guidelines were not breached.
Oliver Peterson
Should all boat arrivals be published to all Australians?
Senator Cash
Well, that’s a decision for any government at the time. But I certainly believe in the interest of transparency. Yes, they should.
Oliver Peterson
And the state Liberal conference is on this weekend. I’m sure you’re excited about it, but no Peter Dutton. Does the new leader not care about Western Australia?
Senator Cash
Absolutely not. In fact, I think the first place he came to was Western Australia. And in a number of speeches that he gave, he made it very, very clear the importance of Western Australia, in particular to the national economy. He then again touched down in Western Australia, but a week or so later. He has a personal commitment, and I think most Australians would understand, in particular given the limited flights to Western Australia from Queensland, but a personal commitment is just that, a personal family commitment. But I’m very pleased that we have the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Sussan Ley. She will be joining us and I know that are all of the Liberals, we look forward to hearing directly from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley.
Oliver Peterson
Appreciate your time Senator, thank you very much.
Senator Cash
Great to be with you Ollie.
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