DOCUMENTS

Senator HUME (Victoria—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (12:32): The disrespect that has been shown to the Senate, that has been shown to this chamber, by the government in producing this order for production of documents and then redacting 18 pages—18 pages blacked out—is extraordinary. Labor promised Australians that it would clean up corruption in the construction industry, yet two years now after the CFMEU was placed into administration that rot remains.

Indeed, potentially it has got even worse in my home state of Victoria. The shocking allegations of corruption and worse on building sites continue. It is not unreasonable of this chamber to request an answer to the question 'what did the government know before it allocated further Commonwealth funds to these projects?' Australians continue to hear allegations of organised crime infiltrating taxpayer funded construction projects—stories of violence on worksites, of payments to underworld fixers, of a culture that this government seems remarkably incurious about and reluctant to confront.

It's extraordinary that on one project alone $6 billion of Commonwealth taxpayer money has been allocated in two tranches—one in May 2022 of $2.2 billion to the Suburban Rail Loop. Since that time, the government found out that there was corruption on that worksite and then went on to allocate a further $3.8 billion. How can that be so?

What did the government know and when? It is not an unreasonable question to ask. The Prime Minister himself has said that he sought assurances from the Victorian government that there was no corruption on that worksite.

If that is the case, show us the documents. What were those assurances? Were they received verbally?

Were they received in writing? Who was it that was asked? Was it done formally?

Was it done informally? It's not too much to ask, because this is exactly what the taxpayer would expect of an opposition—scrutiny of government decisions when they know that corruption is involved. Just in the last week, the CFMEU administrator reported that there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals from something called the Building Industry 2000 Fund that's controlled by former CFMEU boss John Setka as well as Ralph Edwards—when the administrator has said that it's unclear how that money was spent.

These are very serious allegations, and they deserve serious scrutiny and a serious response from government, not indifference. Labor claims it's done all it can; it's appointed an administrator. But clearly that's not good enough.

Worse still, under Labor's scheme, some of the very people associated with the union's worst excesses only have to wait it out. They can return to the union after five years. The CFMEU administrator has acknowledged on television that John Setka could potentially return to the union under Labor's rules.

That's Labor's soft touch on corruption in construction. That is all you can do. 'We've done all we can do,' apparently. That's why I introduced a bill just last sitting week to ensure that the CFMEU administrator has the powers he needs to ensure that the union cannot simply recycle the worst of its offenders.

And if Labor is genuinely serious about stamping out corruption and criminality in the construction industry, it should support tougher laws. It should support proper parliamentary scrutiny. And—you guessed it—it should comply with orders of the Senate, because that's what we're here to do.

Senator McKenzie's order required the government to produce very basic reports that it received from the Victorian government on allegations of criminal and unlawful behaviour. The Senate agreed to that order a month ago. Labor's disrespecting of the Senate the way the government has done is demonstrative of its commitment to stamping out corruption on construction sites.

You've had plenty of time to conduct the consultations. You knew exactly what the Senate has required, and you have ignored it or, even worse, undermined it. Minister King has claimed public interest immunity over these documents.

What an insult to the Senate. There are 73 pages, and only two have given us any information at all. Secrecy forms part of a broader pattern.

But what is Labor hiding? What does the government have to hide here? Who are you protecting?

Labor has refused to support Senator Kovacic's proposal for a Senate inquiry into corruption in the construction industry. It's refused to refer my bill to an inquiry. The Prime Minister says he's received assurances, but what assurances are they?

This is what we need to know. What do the reports say? It is not too much to ask.

The people in the gallery want to understand what their taxpayer money has gone to pay for.