KRISTY READING, HOST: Labor's national executive will meet today as the Federal Party faces growing pressure to distance itself from the powerful construction union, the CFMEU. The meeting will take place as the Fair Work Commission begins the process of having an administrator appointed to oversee the construction division of the embattled union in Victoria and New South Wales. The CFMEU has been engulfed in scandal this week after Nine newspapers unearthed allegations the union has been infiltrated by underworld figures. The Victorian, New South Wales and Queensland Premiers have all paused accepting donations from the construction arm of the CFMEU, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been unwilling to follow suit. Instead, he has said it's a matter for the party's National Executive. Labor Duty Senator for the New England and Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing, Tim Ayres, is in our region this week and is with us this morning. He's also a member of the National Executive.
Good morning to you, Tim. Thanks for your time today.
SENATOR TIM AYRES, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TRADE AND MANUFACTURING: G'day, Kirsty. I'm talking to you from Tingha. It's beautiful here. It's really, really good to be back in the region and back on your show. I should say, before we get to these CFMEU questions, it was very special, got to watch the State of Origin with my dad last night at Armidale. It was just fantastic.
READING: Wasn't it?
AYRES: You could go for another twenty years and never see a game as good as that.
READING: We'll be holding onto that for years to come, Tim.
AYRES: That's right. That's right.
READING: Look, what do you make of these CFMEU allegations?
AYRES: Well, first point is, you know, as somebody who has worked in the trade union movement for many, many years before I was elected to the Parliament, where honest, effective, capable unions that are accountable to their members, you know, we've worked so hard as a movement supporting workers at their workplace. The majority of union members in Australia are women who work in professional jobs as nurses or teachers, shop assistants. That's the modern union movement. And what has happened in the CFMEU has let all of those people down in the construction division of the CFMEU, to be really precise. It's shameful. And I'm really pleased to be part of a government that is acting in an effective way to clean this show up. It's a good thing. It's a good thing that the Nine newspapers have done all of that investigative work. I'm pleased that they have. It makes for uncomfortable reading, but it's the right thing to do to act. It's the right thing to do to bring it to the surface and the Albanese Government will act to clean the show up.
READING: Should your party nationally distance itself from the CFMEU? I mean, should you stop accepting donations?
AYRES: Well, certainly there are a set of requests or letters from premiers that the National Executive will deal with those today. As a matter of principle, I always am reluctant to discuss the debates and decisions of the National Executive. That's, you know, it's not something that members of the National Executive should be going about doing. But it's fair to say that the requests from the premiers go to the affiliation of the CFMEU construction division in those states where revelations have been made. They go to the question of refusing to accept donation or affiliation fees or participation from that union until it's cleaned up. And I am very confident, I'm very confident that the executive will deal with those and act in accordance with the request from the premiers. That's what Anthony Albanese means when he says the National Executive will deal with it. It will deal with it in accordance with the Premier's directions or request and it'll act very firmly and decisively today.
READING: Do you believe your party should stop accepting donations?
AYRES: Well, that's certainly the position that I'm trying to suggest to you is exactly what the National Executive will determine. Exactly that.
READING: So, what precedent does this set now for Labor's relationship with unions more broadly?
AYRES: Well, it's certainly the case that unions more broadly, the two million union members across Australia who work hard supporting each other, building better workplaces, safer workplaces, that is the modern labour movement. That is the modern union movement. We need good, strong, effective, democratic, well-governed unions to support workers in the workplace, to help deal with the big challenges that the country's got to lift national productivity, create better jobs, include more diversity, more women in, particularly in the blue collar trades, as we're working towards meeting these big national challenges, whether it's the Future Made in Australia, whether it's building an economy for the future, whether it's building the naval ships and submarines that we need for the future, this government's approach will be cooperation with unions and business, with all of the institutions in our economy to get a better deal.
That's what we'll be about. We're not wandering around the community looking for an argument with people. We will be supporting cooperation in our workplaces, better outcomes and better jobs.
READING: Well, are people asking you about this while you're in our region this week? Are they talking to you about this story?
AYRES: Well, certainly people who are, I've obviously met with Labor Party members who are interested in these issues. It's something that obviously is occupying the news this week. I'm very pleased with the approach that Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke have taken on this question. I'm very confident that it's supported unanimously across not just the Labor Party in the Federal Parliament, but across the premiers and the state governments. We've just got no room in our movement for corruption or poor standards of governance or for having some of the behaviours that are just shameful. It's really important that we have a good, strong, effective union in construction.
Construction needs more cooperation, safer workplaces, good jobs, good rates of pay, but it needs to do that on the foundation of decent institutions and that's what we will deliver through the administration. It'll be hard work, it'll be detailed work, it'll be work that's supported by good legal advice and experts. But we will, as a government, clean this show up. Tony Burke will lead this effort. It'll be delivered by the Fair Work Ombudsman and the institutions that are there to do that work, but it will be cleaned up.
READING: The CFMEU Queensland and Northern Territory Secretary says the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has panicked and he's trying to strip thousands of construction workers of effective union representation. What do you make of that?
AYRES: I just think people have got to get a grip. It just shows a sense of entitlement, a lack of understanding of the proper foundations of governance. That is a prerequisite for being an effective union is having a good reputation and acting with proper governance standards. That's the basics. From that basis, you then get to represent workers and support - support workers in their workplace. Support union delegates who are, you know, the union delegates who I know are all voluntary positions that support, that support workers in their workplace and contribute to the proper running of the union and making sure that we get good outcomes.
Our approach is about lifting wages and working cooperatively across industry. That's our approach. That means good, strong, effective, democratic, well governed unions. And everything that we've seen, these revelations about the construction division of the CFMEU show how far they have drifted away from those principles.
READING: Tim Ayres, we'll have to leave it there this morning, but thanks for joining us on the Breakfast Program today.
AYRES: Thanks, Kristy. Catch you later.
READING: Thank you. Senator Tim Ayres there, who's the Labor Duty Senator for the New England and Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing.
ENDS.
