Page 2351 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 5 August 2015
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In terms of its structure and membership neither the Greens, nor I, have any special relationship with unions. In my role as the Greens’ crossbench member I have met with the CFMEU on a handful of times since the last election, just as I have met with many other organisations, such as the Housing Industry Association, the Master Builders Association and, undoubtedly, some groups who funded the Canberra Liberals’ election campaigns and made donations to the Canberra Liberals, on previous occasions. And, of course, I will continue to meet with unions, including the CFMEU, on industrial relations, on worker safety and any other matters of common ground or, indeed, of disagreement.
Of course, there are areas of disagreement across the policy spectrum. Remember, the CFMEU represents people who work in mining and forestry, as well as construction. We are not always in agreement, but in the ACT the focus of the CFMEU is the construction sector, and the Greens have a strong industrial relations policy in this area. In terms of the mining and forestry arms of the union, it is important to note that the Greens have never swayed on our firm policy positions when it comes to issues like protecting the environment and transitioning to a carbon-free renewable energy-based future.
The motion points out in a rather desperate and base attempt at smearing that the CFMEU have donated to the Greens Party. Well, yes they have. That is a matter of public record. Why did they do this? As the CFMEU have publicly stated, those donations were in their members’ interests because the Greens have excellent IR policies. Greens’ policies are focused on supporting workers on fair industrial relations arrangements and on safety, and we will continue to push for progress in these areas in parliaments across Australia.
Based on their policies, the Liberal Party will not be expecting any donations from unions any time soon. Time after time they vote against initiatives brought to this Assembly to improve the situation of workers. A few standout issues are their opposition to the harmonised work, health and safety regime and their opposition to portable long service leave for mobile industries, such as security workers and cleaners. In fact, members may remember that a few years ago Mrs Dunne expressed the Liberal Party’s more expansive view on long service leave, which was that there probably should not be any long service leave at all, let alone in the portable long service leave area. What a backward step that would be for the hardworking people of Australia.
On the issue of donations, I emphasise again that the Greens, including the ACT Greens branch, have an extremely sound and ethical donations policy. It is incontestable that our approach to donations, campaign funding and the integrity of the political system is most in line with public sentiment. The ACT Greens believe political campaigns should be funded through limited public funding. We believe political campaigns should not be reliant on third-party donations. We believe this because public funded elections promote more equitable access to democratic participation and reduce the risk of corruption through donations.
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