Page 160 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2016
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My colleague on the hill, Adam Bandt MP, makes a fine point in relation to this matter. He said if the government think they have facts that will change people’s minds, they should do what every other government has done before them and bring them to the parliament so that we can debate them.
As Mr Wall’s motion notes, Commissioner Heydon referred the ACT secretary of the CFMEU to the director-general of the Chief Minister’s directorate for investigation, and I have no doubt that due process is being followed. Like others, I await any outcomes of that process.
If any CFMEU officials are ultimately found guilty, I expect opponents will use that as an attempt to taint the whole union movement, and I think that would be quite unfair. As I said last August when Mr Wall brought his last motion, to write off an entire organisation based on the conduct of a few would be rash and reckless. It would be like writing off the entire Liberal Party based on the extravagance and hubris of Bronwyn Bishop.
In terms of its structure and membership, neither the Greens nor I have any special relationship with the unions. In my role as a Greens crossbench member I have met with the CFMEU a handful of times since the last election, just as I have met with other unions, other stakeholders in work health and safety, and also with groups who probably help fund the Canberra Liberals’ election campaigns, because all of these people are stakeholders here in the ACT, and I meet with people who have got relevant things to say.
As I said last August, I will continue to meet with unions, including the CFMEU, on industrial relations, on worker safety and on any other matters of common ground or indeed of disagreement. Of course, there are areas of disagreement across the policy spectrum. Remember, of course, that the CFMEU represents people who work in mining and forestry as well as in 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. It is that policy position that also means the Greens do not accept donations from Adani, the massive resource company that currently presents one of the greatest environmental threats to Australia through its plans to open up coal mining in the Galilee Basin in Queensland. I note this environmental threat and massive contribution to climate change has not stopped either the Australian Liberal Party or, for that matter, the Australian Labor Party accepting Adani donations, and that is something the Greens have never done and never will do.
The motion points out, in a rather desperate and base attempt at smearing, that the CFMEU have donated to the Greens party, and yes, that is true. It is, in fact, a matter of public record. And why did they do this? As the CFMEU have publicly stated, their donations to the Greens were in its members’ interests, and those donations were in
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