Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026

Mr TEHAN (Wannon—Manager of Opposition Business) (09:23): This bill should really be called 'Bringing the CFMEU to Canberra', because that is what this bill is all about, and the deceitful and dishonest way the government is ramming this bill through is an utter disgrace. It will have enormous consequences for all major federal government procurement processes.

What it will mean is we will see cost blowouts on all of those. We will see cost overruns on all of those. We will see time delays.

It will be an absolute debacle. I cannot believe that this government is doing this. It only has to look at where state governments have done this kind of dirty deal to see what the implications are going to be for this nation.

Look at Queensland under the previous Labor government, and have a look at the disasters that occurred because of legislation like this. Then go to Victoria, the state which is completely and utterly broke, where we've seen the CFMEU not only infiltrating workplaces but then also bringing with it organised crime into those workplaces. Now, we're seeing from judicial inquiries that there is $15 billion worth of corruption in these major projects in Victoria.

What does the Albanese Labor government do? It decides that it'd better follow what's happening in Victoria and what happened in Queensland. This is appalling.

It's atrocious. That is why we will oppose this legislation. We oppose the way the government is going about it as well.

Once again, it shows we have a dishonest Prime Minister who says one thing before an election and then does the complete opposite after—but I'll get to that later. Let's have a look what serious industry groups are saying about what the Labor Party are trying to ram through with this bill. The Business Council of Australia has warned that public money should go to businesses that can deliver, not businesses that have signed the right union agreement.

The Ai Group has warned that the proposal risks undermining freedom of association. It undermines freedom of association by opening the door to governments forcing employers and employees to strike deals with unions in order to commercially deal with the government. I wonder who they've got in mind.

They're going to force companies to do deals with the CFMEU. Good on you, Albanese Labor government. That's just going to do wonders for value for money for the Australian taxpayer.

What does Master Builders Australia say? They've warned that the provisions may unfairly exclude businesses lawfully operating under awards, including small businesses in the building and construction industry. If you're a business, lawfully going about what you do, but you don't have the preferred union contract that the government wants you to sign up on, then, bad luck, you're not going to get the deal.

Why would they be doing this, especially when it comes to the building sector? They want their mates in the CFMEU in on the deal. It's an absolute national disgrace what they're trying to ram through the parliament.

What does the Housing Industry Association say? They have raised concerns that the bill effectively fast tracks the Secure Australian Jobs Code while that process is still in consultation and development. What the government is trying to do is, without even putting in place proper protections, look after their mates.

It just goes to show you what the priorities of this government are. Their first priority is to make sure you're taxed more. We've got Sir Tax-a-lot, the Treasurer, wanting to find more and more ways to tax you.

That's the first thing they want to do. They want to spend more, and they're trying to find every which way they can to spend the taxpayer dollar. That spending, which is at record levels, is going to increase even more now because they're going to make sure that major projects have a dirty deal with the union movement on them.

What's that going to lead to? It's going to lead to time overruns and cost overruns. If you want an example, have a look at Snowy Hydro.

You've got the most incompetent minister the Commonwealth has ever seen, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Not only did he change the contract arrangements, which has seen a blow-out from $6 billion to $12 billion, but they're now forecasting it could go as high as $42 billion. Guess what they've done with Snowy?

They've also done a workplace relations deal that's likely to add billions and billions of dollars. So you can take what the minister for climate change has done and just say, 'Well, that's what's going to happen across the board now with all these Commonwealth procurement proposals.' It beggars belief that they would want to do it, especially when you can see the damage and the harm that has been done across the nation where state Labor governments have done this type of thing.

It beggars belief that they would be trying to do it. And it not only beggars belief that they're doing it, but so does the way that they're doing it. It's so underhanded.

Because guess what they've done. They've put it in with another bill that is about improving the Fair Work Commission and how it goes about its job and trying to make it more timely. And guess what the Prime Minister said about this type of 'wedge-islation'.

This is what he said on the record, and he's said it numerous times on the record—and once again it shows you how dishonest he is. This is what he said at his first press conference as Prime Minister on 23 May 2022: I look forward to leading a Government that makes Australians proud. A Government that doesn't seek to divide, that doesn't seek to have wedges … That was at his first press conference.

Then, when he addressed the caucus, when he addressed all the Labor Party members, this is what he said: We want to be more inclusive. We want to make sure there's less shouting and more delivery. The former government sat around and talked about how to wedge the other side of politics.

We're not really interested in that. And they just sat back and let him be dishonest. You can't make this stuff up.

You cannot make this up. That's at his first caucus meeting as Prime Minister, after his first press conference as Prime Minister. And then, as opposition leader, in the House of Reps on 17 September 2019 he said: The objective is not to promote legislation; it's to promote 'wedgislation'—it's about trying to find legislation that the Labor Party will oppose.

This is a great example of it. It's a government really in search of an agenda and a plan. Well, you've been damned by your own words, Prime Minister.

This is what he said at a doorstop as opposition leader in May 2022: 'This is a guy who never looks to bring people together, who never looks for unity. It's always just looking for wedges and always looking for division.' Once again, damned by your own words, Prime Minister. This is what he said on 10 May 2022: 'I want to bring people together.

I think we've had a decade of division, a decade of a Prime Minister who is always looking for the wedge. What we need to do is actually work out what our common interests are.' I can tell you: this bill is 'wedge-islation' and there is no common interest in it. And yet you're happy for it to be rammed through the parliament in this form.

It is a disgrace. This is what he said on 3 May 2022: 'For this guy, everything is an opportunity to play politics. He doesn't have legislation, he has "wedge-islation".

They sit around the cabinet. They don't think about the national interest. They think about how they can wedge Labor on this issue.' Seriously, the hypocrisy knows no bounds.

I can go on and on, but I will give one more example. It's like Pinocchio's nose growing. It's example after example after example; it just grows and grows and grows.

He said: My opponent is always looking for an argument, always looking for a disagreement, never looking for a solution. … … … I think really people are sick of a government that has 'wedgislation', as I call it, looking to wedge the Opposition rather than legislation. Talk about damned by your own incompetence. Talk about damned by your own words.

Talk about damned by your deceit. Talk about being absolutely damned by your hypocrisy. I've talked about the 'wedge-islation', and this is where it becomes important as to how the opposition is going to deal with this bill.

The coalition supports practical reforms that improve the operation of the Fair Work Commission—we have been clear on that. But we cannot support the bill in its current form while it contains these appalling provisions that will bring the CFMEU to Canberra. We cannot support that.

The government should split the bill. That is why the opposition has circulated detailed amendments to that effect. We don't want the CFMEU coming to Canberra.

Why those opposite do is beyond me, but we do not. This is where it goes to the 'wedge-islation'. I want to make very clear what the government has done here.

Yesterday's gag motion—this was gagged—from the Leader of the House will mean that there will be no opportunity for the opposition to speak to other amendments. This matters because, at this stage, the opposition has circulated an amendment which tries to achieve the same objectives as the amendment moved by the member for Wentworth. I understand that the member for Wentworth's amendment will be considered first, therefore obviating the opposition's amendment.

Without Labor's gag, the opposition may have been able to move its amendment first. That's what we were going to do. As it stands, Labor's gag motion prevents the normal consideration-in-detail process from occurring.

Still, if our circulated amendment were to pass, the coalition would support this bill because we'd take out the 'bring the CFMEU to Canberra' part and deal with the Fair Work Commission part. But it doesn't. That is why we will not support this bill.

We will not stand by and allow the government to rush through under a gag motion this appalling piece of legislation which brings the CFMEU back to Canberra and basically opens the taxpayer up to enormous cost overruns, which is the last thing we need as a country at this moment.