MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Senator WHITTEN (Western Australia) (17:03): I spent more than 30 years working in the construction industry, so I'm pretty qualified to talk on this matter. I know firsthand the dedication, skill and pride that hardworking tradies bring to every jobsite across the country. I've also seen how corruption, intimidation and thuggery can destroy good workplaces and drive up costs for everyone.

One of the biggest drivers of cost in our construction sector, the CFMEU, has been aided by this Labor government and, in reality, regardless of what the Labor government says it has done to stifle them, they still operate today. For years we have seen shocking reports of corruption, bullying and lawlessness within this union. Millions of dollars of workers' funds have been misused, contractors coerced and workers silenced.

And Labor? Well, they've taken donations, they've turned a blind eye and they've torn down the very watchdogs, like the Building and Construction Commission, that once kept the CFMEU in check. This failure has real consequences.

Every time the CFMEU inflates costs through coercion or criminal behaviour, it's ordinary Australians who pay the price. Those inflated construction costs feed directly into higher housing prices, more expensive infrastructure and greater pressure on taxpayers. Labor's cozy relationship with the CFMEU isn't just unethical; it's market sabotage, fuelling the housing crisis and betraying the very people they claim to represent.

It's time for accountability, it's time to restore integrity to the construction sector and it's time for a government that stands with workers, not with bullies and corrupt unions. Australian construction workers need to be protected without the fear of being strong-armed by Labor's mates in the CFMEU.