COMMITTEES

Senator KOVACIC (New South Wales) (17:38): I move: That the following matter be referred to the Education and Employment References Committee for inquiry and report by 12 March 2026: The administration of the Construction and General Division of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union and its branches as contemplated by the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Administration) Act 2024, and any related matters.

I would like to speak about why we are seeking this reference and a Senate inquiry into the administration of the CFMEU. This is a necessary step because, over the last number of weeks and months, we have come to learn some very disturbing information as to what is still going on in the CFMEU. Earlier today, during question time, when we asked a number of questions around the CFMEU and its administration, we received an alarming response from the minister opposite, who indicated that they had better things to do than to watch the television.

Well, can I suggest that there are probably not many more important things for the minister responsible, Minister Rishworth, to do than to address the ongoing criminal and corrupt conduct of the CFMEU. This parliament established the administration of the CFMEU, and this parliament deserves the right and the ability to scrutinise what is happening with that administration.

It is clear that there are endemic problems that existed prior and are continuing during the administration. Many of the allegations that aired in the media and were made by whistleblowers make it very clear that those problems are still ongoing under the current administration. The minister indicates that she has every confidence in the administration.

I challenge her then to explain why the conduct continues. If she does, in fact, have absolute confidence in the administration and in the veracity of that administration, why does this government fear a Senate inquiry into that administration? If there is nothing to hide, then there is nothing to fear from an administration.

The minister promised the strongest possible action against the criminal and corrupt CFMEU, and all we have seen is scandal after scandal. If the government refuses to allow it—if they again block this inquiry today—they need to answer to the Australian people as to why they are allowing it to continue. They need to explain to the Australian people why they are running a protection racket for the CFMEU.

Minister Rishworth needs to explain why she is facilitating a protection racket for the CFMEU. The Prime Minister needs to explain why he is running a protection racket for the CFMEU. I would ask the Greens to tell us why they are facilitating that same protection racket for the CFMEU to continue.

If we have one job in this place, it's to ensure that the legislation and the things that leave this place are fit for purpose and are doing the job that they're meant to do. This place created the administration of the CFMEU, and it should be subject to our scrutiny, particularly when there is very clear evidence that there are ongoing problems. We cannot pretend it is not happening.

It is absolutely happening. Not only has the media exposed it and not only have whistleblowers exposed it, but it came through in Senate estimates. Let me be clear again: I'm not talking about conduct before the CFMEU went into administration; I'm talking about conduct after the CFMEU went into administration.

This is conduct after the CFMEU went into administration. Today presents a choice in the Senate for the crossbench, the Greens and the government of whether we actually continue with this culture of the CFMEU or we tell them that enough is enough and establish a Senate inquiry. The choice is either that we hear what is going on and make the administrators front up to a Senate inquiry or that we continue to pretend that nothing is going on and that there is nothing to see here, which we know is not the case.

We absolutely know that the criminal and corrupt conduct continues. We know that Zach Smith, who sits on the ALP national executive, made one of his union organisers meet with Mick Gatto. We know he made him do that.

Then he apologised for it. He said he was sorry. That was it; that was the end.

There were no other consequences from this robust administration, just Zach Smith saying he was sorry. We know that John Perkovic, who was sacked last week, received gold jewellery from Mick Gatto. We know that there are allegations in relation to the construction of his home.

We know there are allegations in relation to the acquisition of land for his daughter. We saw allegations on 60 Minutes of a fellow CFMEU member and his neighbour who alleged that another member of the CFMEU rammed through his house, attacked him and frightened his wife and his children. This is not pretend.

This isn't an episode of Underbelly. This is real. This is happening in Australia today while we sit here, look the other way and pretend it's not.

How do we justify that? How do we do that? It's unacceptable.

Appointing an administrator was meant to signal real change. Instead, what we are seeing is a system that still tolerates corruption, a system that still tolerates criminal activity and a system that recycles its operatives and shields the union rather than uproot entrenched criminal conduct. When are we going to say 'enough'?

Mr Zach Smith sits on the national executive of the ALP. He sits on that body along with our prime minister, Anthony Albanese. There are a couple of issues with that that go beyond integrity questions and whether that is actually okay, given what we know.

But Mr Smith isn't resigning from the ALP National Executive, despite all of these allegations out there and with everything that's come to pass in the media, from whistleblowers and in Senate estimates. He doesn't want to resign. He wants to sit there.

He wants to stay there because that's what he expects—that's what he demands. And the Prime Minister hasn't asked for him to be removed. Why?

Why hasn't the Prime Minister asked for him to be removed from that governing body of the Australian Labor Party? Because the Australian Labor Party and the CFMEU are intertwined. That's why.

There is a conflict of interest. That is why. It is extraordinary that the Prime Minister chooses to still share the table of the governing body of the ALP with Mr Zach Smith after the allegations that have been aired in the recent past.

It also explains why the Albanese Labor government, as one of its first actions in this place, abolished the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the watchdog in this space. They got rid of it straightaway. Why do you think they did that?

Because the CFMEU asked them to do it. That was the expectation. Media reporting confirms that the administrator is determined not to see the ABCC returned.

When individuals from within the CFMEU have come to the administrator and said, 'We need more resources, we need more power, we need more help to stamp out this conduct,' the administrator has said no—because he doesn't want to open the door to the ABCC coming back. He wants to make it look like he has everything under control. Well, it's very clear that it is not under control.

Minister Rishworth needs to act now. If today, as expected, this chamber votes to block the inquiry into the administration of the CFMEU, Minister Rishworth and the Prime Minister will need to stand up and explain to Australians why—why they condone that behaviour, because they are not doing anything material to stop it. There are two things that they can do today to stop that behaviour.

They can allow this Senate inquiry motion to pass and they can remove Zach Smith from the ALP National Executive. We will see whether either of those two come to pass. The Fair Work Commission also told Senate estimates that they would have grave concerns if John Setka maintained influence within the CFMEU.

I was sitting in the room when that statement was made—grave concerns. Well, guess what? The grave concerns have been realised, because not only does John Setka still maintain influence in the CFMEU; it appears that he is still running the CFMEU.

That, too, is unacceptable. People from the CFMEU organisation who have resigned and left have said key people have been put into positions of power. That, too, is unacceptable.

That's unacceptable because there are hardworking members of the CFMEU that deserve better from their leadership and who deserve better from this government. They deserve to have people running their organisation in a way that meets their needs and advances the interests of its members, not the interests of those at the top of the tree. Yet their concerns are not being heard.

In fact, when those individuals complain, they're ostracised. When those individuals point to criminal and corrupt conduct, they're ostracised. When those individuals become whistleblowers, they are persona non grata, their career is over, they can't get a job and no-one will talk to them.

That's the culture within the CFMEU under this current administration, and that cannot go on. The public are very clear about what they want here. They want the corrupt elements of the CFMEU to be removed, and the only way to do that now, given there are clear issues within the administration, is to allow this Senate inquiry.

There is more to this than just the corrupt elements of the union. It is about whether the Albanese government is prepared to stand up to elements of organised crime. This is their opportunity today—again.

They didn't take the opportunity yesterday, but there is an opportunity again today to do that. The government has a choice: back an administration that shows it is not working or back a Senate inquiry that can actually find out what the real problems are. Australians deserve better than the excuses they've been given.

Australians deserve a government that act when they see a problem in front of them, and that's what we would like to see today.