19th of June 2024, 3:03pm
Legislative Council of Victoria, Spring Street, Melbourne
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan):
I rise to speak to the proposal to establish a select committee to investigate part or perhaps all of the trade union movement. I have been I suppose over the last 40 years on the periphery of a couple of royal commissions and multiple inquiries into union behaviour, and they have all had two things in common: firstly, they have been fishing exercises that have basically been looking to discredit the union movement; and secondly, they have always been moved by conservative parties who know that there is little or no veracity to their inquiries but are keen to disparage and besmirch their Labor Party rivals through their association with and – let us face it – their origins in the trade union movement.
In my humble opinion this is again just such an exercise. It seeks to cast a wide net to besmirch the union movement as a whole as well as particular unions and particular individuals. This is, for want of a better term, a political hamburger with the lot based on a traditional recipe. Let us ask ourselves the question: how does that recipe go? Firstly, you start with an attack on the construction unions, a favourite whipping horse bursting with conservative flavour. I would posit that this is because those unions have been unbowed despite the huge resources thrown at them by successive coalition governments. Alternately, perhaps it is the huge resources thrown at the Liberal Party by donors from the property and construction industries. Next, in the assembly of our burger –
Members interjecting.
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan):
Thank you. Next, and sticking with the flavoursome construction sector, tie in the abolition of the notorious Australian Building and Construction Commission, an organisation established solely to play the role of union buster. The ABCC was an organisation that history will record as not only an abject failure at reducing union influence but also a serial pest litigator, a Liberal attack dog and one that did more to undermine health and safety in the building industry than asbestos.
At this point, to make a big real burger statement – and I should apologise to Mr Berger here; there is no reference to Mr Berger. I am talking about a metaphorical burger that I am working on. At this point, to make a real burger statement and to add some much-needed colour and crispness, you need to throw in a few allegations of extortion and intimidation, suggesting that the broad scope of the criminal and civil code is probably inadequate to encompass the sheer villainy of those evil union officials that you refer to. Finally, finish your burger with lashings of the not-so-secret spicy sauce in the form of blaming unions for the skyrocketing costs of construction for all Australians and, because you know you want more, throw in those major state government infrastructure project costs. And there you have it – the all-singing, all-dancing, union-bashing burger with the lot. The trouble is this burger fails the taste test. To stick with my overly tortured hamburger metaphor, this burger is stale, it lacks substance. It is like one of those burgers that just has too much beetroot in it.
To go to something a little more serious, industrial relations is not for the faint-hearted. It is for the committed, and in many sectors if you do not get a bit antsy and you do not take action, employers simply assume that you are not seriously pursuing a claim. That is the nature of the sector. It would be nice if that was not the case, but the fact is that it is the reality. This is the industrial culture, and if you cannot work within that culture, you are in the wrong business. It is just how industrial relations all too often works. It is a cultural thing.
It is also worth noting that successive conservative governments have reduced the ability of unions to access the conciliation and arbitration system to undermine union influence but at the same time they have made the intensity of those conflicts greater. The old ‘get in early, get into mediation, get resolution’ has been carved away by conservative governments. At the same time those same conservative governments have created animals like the Australian Building and Construction Commission to attack and erode the legitimate role of the union movement, perversely only serving to increase conflict.
We recognise and accept absolutely the right of the opposition to propose such a select committee, but Legalise Cannabis Victoria is of a view that this proposal is basically a hit job on the construction unions, the Victorian Trades Hall Council and any other unions that might come within the crosshairs of such an inquiry. Accordingly, we will not be supporting the motion.
[Ends]
