ABC News Breakfast

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

SUBJECTS: CFMEU legislation, Palestinian visas
 
LISA MILLAR, HOST: Let’s go to Canberra and “a targeted attack on construction workers” - well that’s how the CFMEU has categorised the government’s bill that will force the embattled construction union into administration. The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Murray Watt, joins us now from Parliament House. Good morning, Minister. Thanks for coming on the program.
 
MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: No worries, Lisa. Good to be with you.
 
LISA MILLAR: What do you say about that – “a targeted attack on construction workers”?
 
MURRAY WATT: Well it’s certainly a targeted focus on the construction division of the CFMEU, Lisa. But I would completely disagree that this is an attack on construction workers – quite the opposite. I think construction workers and members of the CFMEU construction division have been completely let down by too many of the leaders of that organisation where we have seen organised crime, bikies, and other violent activities infiltrate this union at the expense of its members. So what this is all about, really, is about rebuilding this union, making sure it gets its focus back to representing the interests of its members and, once and for all, eliminating the organised crime and bikie influence that, unfortunately, has taken hold.
 
LISA MILLAR: A lot of viewers may be watching this morning and wondering what does it mean for them? Why is this important for people watching this morning?
 
MURRAY WATT: Well I think it is important to ensure that trade unions and employer groups are free of criminality and corruption and the sort of violent activities that have become all too common around the construction division of the CFMEU. And that’s really what this is all about is, as I say, rebuilding that union. I think construction workers deserve to have a strong and effective union, but it’s got to be a clean union, and I would expect that that would lead to much more harmonious workplaces, less violence on the worksite, and I think that’s good for all Australians.
 
LISA MILLAR: Adam Bandt this morning, Greens leader, on Radio National has said that it gives too much power to the government. He painted this picture saying, “what if the Coalition get back into government and Tony Abbott is the next administrator of the union?”. So what are the safeguards to ensure that the unions can get back to normal processes?
 
MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I heard Adam Bandt’s interview, and I think this is just a ridiculous example that he’s giving, to try to disguise the fact that yesterday the Greens Party were the only party in Parliament that decided to side with John Setka and the organised crime and bikie elements around the CFMEU, rather than taking the side of the Australian people. We had a vote in the Parliament yesterday, in the Senate, which called on the Greens to say that they wouldn’t take political donations from the CFMEU construction division - they refused to vote for that. So I think it’s pretty clear what the Greens’ motivation is here in voting against this legislation.
 
LISA MILLAR: But why is it ridiculous though? Can you just address that actual point?
 
MURRAY WATT: The safeguards?
 
LISA MILLAR: Yeah.
 
MURRAY WATT: Well as a result of a number of the amendments that we reached with the Coalition, additional safeguards were put in place. So, for example, initially the bill would give the power to me as the minister to appoint the administrator, to set the terms of that administration and importantly to change the terms of the administration or revoke it in the future. The amendments that we’ve made have actually meant that the administrator must request those kinds of changes in the first place. So these powers aren’t being exclusively being given to the minister of the day, whether that be me or a future minister. They can be exercised at the request only of the administrator. So I think that’s a pretty important safeguard.
 
There are other safeguards. For example, where we have taken strong action to ban some of the officials who end up being removed from office or terminated in their employment. The purpose of that is to ban them from popping up somewhere else as a bargaining agent on a construction worksite. They would be banned for life under this legislation, but with the safeguard that the administrator can issue a certificate to say that they are a fit and proper person to become a bargaining agent again in the future. So, as you can see, there are a number of different safeguards that we’ve put in place to make sure that ministers of the day can’t just exercise unilateral powers, that the administrator has to take a range of circumstances into account. As I say, this is just a desperate attempt from the Greens to cover up the fact that yesterday they voted for John Setka, rather than the Australian people.
 
LISA MILLAR: Can I just before you go ask you about the issue of visas for people fleeing Gaza. The Opposition’s pulled together figures suggesting Australia has been one of the most generous with its distribution of visas. How rigorous is the security check for a Tourist Visa for someone coming in from Gaza?
 
MURRAY WATT: Well, I guess the key point, Lisa, is that we are using exactly the same processes as were used by the Coalition when they were in power and when Peter Dutton was the minister. Mike Burgess, the Director General of ASIO, has confirmed that himself. So I think it’s interesting that Peter Dutton was quite prepared to use certain processes when he was the minister but now that we’re in power, he wants to criticise that. It’s just about Peter Dutton always wanting to find division, find reasons to criticise and be negative of the government, even when he’s actually criticising his own record as a minister.
 
LISA MILLAR: Well, he’s also been criticising the Prime Minister for truncating a quote from Mike Burgess to suggest that all Palestinian arrivals are being vetted by ASIO. Did he mislead Parliament when he said that?
 
MURRAY WATT: No, and the Prime Minister has addressed that point. You can have a look at what Mike Burgess said and see for yourself what he actually said. I think, again, this is just Peter Dutton trying to find points to divide the Australian community. As you know, he made these comments which kicked off this entire debate on the day we saw the Australian Olympic team come back into the country. It should have been a day for national unity and, of course, you can rely on Peter Dutton to make it a day of national division instead.
 
LISA MILLAR: Murray Watt, thanks for your time this morning.