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The Albanese Labor Government should immediately move to deregister the militant and out of control CFMEU following startling revelations the union has been deeply infiltrated by bikies, gangland and underworld criminal figures.

“What we’ve seen revealed by the Nine newspapers and 60 Minutes investigation shows this union has no right to still be operating,” Senator Cash said.

“Bob Hawke was brave enough to deregister the BLF and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister Tony Burke should follow his lead and do the same with the CFMEU,’’ Senator Cash said.

“The Albanese Government’s abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission has been an unmitigated disaster – this union is now riddled with bikies and underworld figures,” she said.

“The whole industry now needs to be free of the grip of this union and the only way to do that is deregister them,’’ Senator Cash said.

“The powers exist under the Fair Work Act for deregistration and Minister Burke can clearly make the application – he should do so immediately,’’ she said.

“The ACTU should then work out how the decent law-abiding workers who want to be part of a union could best be represented within the construction industry,’’ Senator Cash said.

“Minister Burke’s past conduct would indicate he will be slow to act against the union that donated $4.3 million to the Labor Party to help them win the last election,’’ Senator Cash said.

“The Labor Party should immediately hand back all the money that has been donated to them by the CFMEU in recent years. There is a question over some of that money possibly being the proceeds of crime. There needs to be a full investigation into the money trail,’’ she said.

The Coalition maintains its call for the Albanese Government to legislate the Ensuring Integrity Bill of 2019, re-instate the ABCC with increased powers, increase penalties for breaches of the Fair Work Act and tighten the fit and proper person test for right of entry onto construction sites.

Australia’s weak Prime Minister Anthony Albanese must explain to the Australian people why he chose to ignore detailed evidence provided to him in 2022, which highlighted extreme violence and unlawful black-banning by CFMEU officials against non-union-preferred firms on state and federally funded projects.

In October 2022, the directors of an Indigenous labour-hire firm sent a letter to Prime Minister Albanese, detailing serious threats of violence, intimidation, and unlawful union bans on the Monash Freeway upgrade project.

Despite the urgency and severity of these claims, there is no clear evidence that the Prime Minister or his office took any action or responded to the letter.

“Prime Minister Albanese’s failure to act on the detailed evidence of CFMEU misconduct at the time, is a blatant disregard for the safety and integrity of our construction industry,” Senator cash said.

“It is only now, after reports of the CFMEUs criminality have been thoroughly exposed the media, that Labor is pretending to act tough on the lawless union.

“If these issues had been dealt with when they were brought to the Prime Ministers attention, Australian building sites would not be in the position of dysfunction they are in today.

“It’s little wonder though that these warnings were blatantly, if not maliciously ignored, given the CFMEUs direct affiliation with the Labor party, and the $6.2 million dollars the CFMEU has given Labor since Mr Albanese has been leader.

“The CFMEU demanded Labor abolish the construction industry watchdog, the ABCC, and Labor promptly abolished it.

“Now all Australians are seeing the consequences of Labor bowing down to a lawless union, blindly following the demands of CFMEU thugs.

“The CFMEU need only ask, to have their whims and wishes attended to by this Government and this weak Prime Minster.

“Prime Minister Albanese needs to demonstrate that lawless unions do not run his Labor party.

“Labor must immediately, and formally break ties with the CFMEU, as well as pledge to accept no further donations from the militant union.

“At the end of the day, it is Australian’s who are ultimately paying the price for Labor’s failures.

Australian small businesses are facing a perfect storm of rising costs, high interest rates and collapsing demand because Anthony Albanese’s distracted and divided government has failed to deliver a proper economic plan.

The latest Business Risk Index report from credit reporting bureau, CreditorWatch, provokes serious concern for the health of many Australian businesses. It has found:

• One in 11 hospitality businesses are set to fail over the next year — as Australian households feel the pain of higher mortgage repayments, rents, power bills and other essentials, Australia’s hospitality sector is being hammered. This means almost one in ten cafes and restaurants could close their doors over the next year alone.
• The value of business orders is at a record low — the average value of invoices held by businesses has halved over the year to June 2024 as higher prices and declining demand hits the economy. As reported in February, invoice defaults are also at record highs; and
• The business failure rate has increased by nearly 10 per cent over the past 12 months alone.

⁠Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Industry and Small and Family Business, Sussan Ley, called on Anthony Albanese to take responsibility for the economic deterioration occurring on his watch and under his policies.

“Keeping the doors open at one of our iconic Australian cafes or suburban restaurants is in real question because of the failed economic policies of this distracted and divided Albanese Government,” the Deputy Leader said.

“Shuttered small businesses are the collateral damage of the failures of Anthony Albanese to focus on one his most fundamental jobs, managing the economy – costs are up across the board and along supply chains.

“The loss of almost one in ten hospitality businesses, in the next year alone, is deeply concerning because behind every one of those businesses is a family and a community – this is what happens under Labor governments, they just cannot manage the economy.”

According to CreditorWatch, the regions with the highest risk of business failure are around Western Sydney (six of the top 10) and South-East Queensland, with Bringelly-Green Valley (NSW) the top-ranked region (7.63 per cent chance of default), followed by Merrylands-Guildford and Canterbury.

It’s typical of the Albanese Labor Government to take the weak option when dealing with the CFMEU, which is exactly what they have done by placing the union into administration rather than deregistering it.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister Tony Burke should also stop acting like they are surprised by the appalling revelations of recent days.

It has been known for years that the CFMEU is riddled with criminal elements who have been involved in violence, thuggery, intimidation and bullying.

By his actions today Mr Albanese has shown Australians he is no Bob Hawke.

Bob Hawke had the guts to deregister the rogue BLF.

In 2016, he famously said that the unions need to clean up their act and get their house in order: “It is just appalling……I would not tolerate it. You know what I did with the BLF, I would throw them out.”

However, Mr Albanese is no Bob Hawke and has chosen the weaker option when dealing with the CFMEU.

Minister Tony Burke’s claim that administration is a tougher option than deregistration is complete non-sense. He says a deregistered organisation can still act as a bargaining representative. Mr Burke knows full well that anyone from an administered organisation can also act as a bargaining representative.

The Albanese Government is extremely conflicted.

Mr Albanese and Labor has spent the last two years giving the CFMEU everything they want, including control of Australia’s construction sector when he abolished the ABCC.

The CFMEU chaos we see today is a result of their actions.

Appointing an administrator is unlikely to have any long-term impact on the CFMEU.

They will still have all their systems in place and we will see individuals from the old leadership continue to pull the strings behind the scenes.

When the period of administration is over they will simply return to their old practices.

The thuggery, intimidation, corruption and criminal behaviour has been going on for years.

The Albanese Government has been in denial the entire time.

When will Mr Albanese and Labor say enough is enough and that the behaviour of the CFMEU is so bad that we need to start again.

The CFMEU needs to be deregistered and a new body established which respects law and order and works in the best interests of its members.

Most importantly, an administrator is no replacement for the Australian Building and Construction Commission which ensured the CFMEU and its officials were kept in check.

The Albanese Government needs to re-establish this body as soon as possible and give it enhanced powers to fight corruption and lawlessness in our construction sector.

Australians deserve nothing less.

Australians are desperately seeking extra jobs and extra hours of work as the country’s cost of living crisis charges on unabated.

Employment data released today shows the unemployment rate went up slightly to 4.1%, but more Australians are seeking work, more hours are being worked by those with jobs.

All this means that Australians are working harder and harder to make ends meet under the Albanese Government’s cost-of-living crisis.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said hardworking Australians are suffering under the out of touch Albanese Labor Government.

“Australia is in an entrenched household, consumer confidence and productivity recession after two years of Labor’s homegrown inflation crisis.

“Australians’ standard of living has collapsed and after three failed budgets, it’s clear the government has no plan to reverse it.

“Labor is completely out of touch. While the government keeps patting itself on the back, the reality is a record number of Australians are working multiple jobs to make ends meet. And we’ve had a record number of businesses go insolvent in the last two years – over 18,000.

“We are in a cost of living and cost of doing business crisis, with no light at the end of the tunnel under the Albanese Labor Government.”

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Michaelia Cash said Australians were feeling the pinch of the Albanese Government induced cost-of-living crisis more and more.

“People are working harder than ever just to keep their heads above water,’’ she said.

“Small businesses are under siege in this country. They are facing a perfect storm of rising costs, high interest rates and collapsing demand because Anthony Albanese’s distracted and divided government has failed to deliver a proper economic plan,’’ Senator Cash said.

“Mr Albanese can’t hide from the fact that his Government have caused this crisis because of his its’ appalling management of our economy,’’ she said.

“For small businesses it is a cost of doing business crisis which only adds to the cost of living for all Australians,’’ Senator Cash said.

“The Government’s pursuit and introduction of restrictive industrial relations policies is only making matters worse,’’ she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has finally sacked his factional ally and incompetent Immigration Minister Andrew Giles following two years of self-inflicted disasters and constant mismanagement.

The new minister must do better, and they will be judged on four measures:

• Ensure Australia’s Net Overseas Migration doesn’t overshoot the Government target — migration under Minister Giles exceeded every Government target.

• Clean up the mess that is Labor’s response to the NZYQ court case and demonstrate how you are making public safety a priority.

• Closely monitor the operation of Ministerial Direction 110 and ensure it is not used to allow criminal non-citizens to remain in Australia and reoffend, as happened with the previous direction introduced by Minister Giles.

• Stop the boats that have restarted under Labor and stop the asylum seekers arriving by plane. The monthly number of asylum seekers arriving by plane had been trending upwards under Minister Giles, with 2380 asylum seekers arrived arriving in May, the highest monthly number since Labor was elected.

Minister Giles was a prime example of why Australians don’t trust Labor on immigration or national security.

Australians have paid the price for Labor’s incompetence when it comes to immigration.

Minister Giles’ record of mismanagement makes for sorry reading:

• Record migration of 528,000 arrivals, as Australians endured housing shortages, record rent increases and a cost-of-living crisis.

• Seven murderers, 37 sex offenders, and 72 violent offenders released into the community with weak, or no, supervision.

• More than 150 non-citizens awaiting deportation were released into the community with the wrong visa.

• Removed the ankle bracelet from a criminal released from immigration detention, who went on to allegedly bash and rob a grandmother.

• Signed and introduced Ministerial Direction 99 that saw non-citizen criminals who should have been deported allowed to remain in Australia, with at least one going on to allegedly commit murder, then allowed the Prime Minister to blame public servants for the mess.

• More than 42,500 asylum seekers arrived in Australia by plane.

• Skipped three important meetings with his department about the mass release of hardened criminals from immigration detention and instead promoted the Voice referendum and flew to the United Kingdom to attend a Labour Party conference.

• Tried to ram through legislation with no consultation and debate and when the Coalition recommended sensible amendments following a Senate Inquiry he dropped the “urgent” legislation and it hasn’t been seen since.

• Invented a non-existent drone surveillance program when under pressure in a media interview then blamed his department, which actually gave clear written advice there was no such program.

• Was the star attraction at multiple Victorian Labor party fundraisers where he was lobbied on visa issues as he spent his first six months in the job rattling the tin for the Andrews Government.

• For seven months he did nothing about the Nixon Review which had highlighted serious organised crime operating within the visa system.

Minister Giles was a failure in the Immigration portfolio and Prime Minister Albanese must own that failure.

Prime Minister Albanese gave Minister Giles a job he was ill-equipped to perform and refused to sack him despite a long-running series of mishaps and mismanagement.

Minister Giles told an ALP conference that he did not support boat turnbacks, which were a key plank of the Coalition’s Operation Sovereign Borders that stopped the influx of illegal boat arrivals under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor governments, and yet the Prime Minister still gave him the job as Immigration Minister.

It is no surprise that when Minister Giles became Immigration Minister the asylum seeker boats started again.

Giles now joins a sorry club of former Labor Immigration Ministers in this Government that includes Chris Bowen, Tony Burke, and Brendan O’Connor, who were ministers when:

• 1200 people, including children, died at sea.

• 8,000 children were forcibly placed in detention.

• 50,000 people arrived on more than 800 boats.

• The cost to taxpayers of managing illegal boat arrivals blew out by $10.3 billion.

Labor can’t be trusted to keep our borders secure, and they can’t be trusted to manage immigration in a sustainable way.

In one of the strangest cabinet reshuffle decisions of the 21st century, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promoted the man who handed effective control of the construction sector in Australia to the CFMEU when he abolished the ABCC.

This has led to disastrous consequences on our nation’s building sites allowing criminality, bullying, corruption, intimidation and standover tactics to thrive.

Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash said that outgoing Employment Minister Tony Burke leaves behind an unparalleled disaster in the Australian construction sector.

“Tony Burke was the best friend the CFMEU ever had. He abolished the ABCC, the organisation which held the CFMEU accountable, saving them millions of dollars in fines and allowing them to control the nation’s construction sector,’’ Senator Cash said.

“Mr Burke was then apparently surprised when the appalling allegations against the CFMEU came to light and he was forced to belatedly apply to put some of their divisions into administration,” she said.

Senator Cash said a competent Prime Minister would have sacked Tony Burke, but Anthony Albanese has again showed his weakness by promoting him to look after our nation’s borders.

“Anthony Albanese has sent a very clear message – if you support his friends in the CFMEU, he will give you a nice promotion. By promoting Mr Burke, Mr Albanese has made it clear that he is happy for the CFMEU to continue to run the construction sector in Australia.” Senator Cash said.

Senator Cash called on incoming Employment Minister Murray Watt to restore the ABCC and to immediately legislate to deregister the CFMEU.

“Murray Watt has a golden opportunity to emulate Bob Hawke, who abolished the Builders Labourer’s Federation, and to immediately introduce legislation to deregister the CFMEU. Unfortunately, Mr Watt’s previous record has been to enthusiastically support outgoing Minister Burke’s agenda in the Senate, an agenda which gave control of Australia’s construction sector to the CFMEU.” Senator Cash said.