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AFR Weekend, Australia 30 Nov 2019, by Phillip Coorey

General News, page 17 - 879.00 cm² National - circulation 43,380 (-----S-) Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence. ID 1206719402 BRIEF AMMA INDEX 1 PAGE 1 of 4 INTEGRITY & BETRAYAL Tactics The government was blindsided by Pauline Hanson’s last-minute decision to vote down the ‘‘union buster’’ law, writes political editor Phillip Coorey.

he government was so he is 100 per cent sure the numbers are When The Australian Financial Review sure Pauline Hanson locked in. reported on Monday that Hanson was cool- and her One Nation col- As the smoke cleared on Friday, he left ing towards the bill, the government went to league Malcolm Roberts little doubt he felt he had been deliberately her again, only to be assured there was were going to vote for the deceived. nothing to be concerned about. ‘‘All through Ensuring Integrity Bill ‘‘We put the bill on the way we did this week she told us she was totally locked (EIB), thus ensuring its T because we had been given very firm under- in,’’ said a source. passage, that it had a The government was confident because it press strategy ready to go. takings of support for the Bill,’’ he said. had given Hanson everything she asked for. Industrial Relations Minster Christian ‘‘Senator Hanson and Senator Roberts, the The bill enabled the Registered Organisa- Porter was preparing to proclaim a new era two One Nation senators, voted with us all tions Commission to apply to have the Fed- of industrial relations and an end to the days throughout the week on every contested vote eral Court deregister unions and officials for of militant unions using lawlessness and in relation to time management, in relation a series of breaches of the Registered Organ- thuggery to hold Australian industries to to amendments, every vote until the last one. isations Act. ransom. ‘‘We were absolutely blindsided and When the bill was first drafted, there were He would put the CFMEU on notice that if taken by surprise with the final vote, given concerns that its remit was too broad, that it didn’t change its behaviour it faced the all the undertakings we were receiving all services unions which represent nurses, for real prospect of deregistration. throughout the week and before.’’ example, could be deregistered, and officials Business and industry groups were also Cormann has been dudded by Hanson sacked for minor paperwork breaches. primed, with statements at the ready. before. Last year, as the unpopularity of the Amendments pushed by the Centre Alli- Passage of the legislation – which would banks grew with each hearing of the Hayne ance party, and built on by One Nation, have made it easier to deregister rogue uni- royal commission, Hanson withdrew her sought to deal with this by confining the ons and officials – would be one of the great support for the company tax cuts. At least application of the bill to the fullest extent early achievements of the 46th Parliament, she told him in advance. This time there was possible to union militancy. the Australian Mines and Metals Associ- no warning. Porter met exhaustively with Hanson to ation was ready to declare. ‘‘If anyone tells us that they cannot sup- sign off on her demands. For the government, it would be a much- port a piece of legislation we have to accept ‘‘Why would you propose 11 amendments needed victory that would offset a bad week, and respect that. But to be told that the sup- to a bill, ensure that the entirety of the week thanks to a blunder by Energy Minister port is there based on the agreements that in the Senate was devoted to debating the Angus Taylor that spread to Prime Minister we have already reached on amendments very amendments that you, One Nation, put Scott Morrison and raised questions about and then to find yourself in the situation we up, and then ultimately to have them all his judgment. found ourselves in yesterday afternoon is accepted and not support the bill?’’ he said. However, about 5pm Thursday, all such very disappointing,’’ said Cormann. ‘‘I’ve actually not seen anything like it. It is hope and sentiment evaporated when Han- ‘‘It is a very difficult way to do business exceedingly strange.’’ son and Roberts, who hadn’t even told their with each other when there is a lack of open- Hanson listed several reasons for oppos- staff of their plans, voted with Labor, the ness and transparency along those lines.’’ ing the bill. The first was that the govern- Greens and Jacqui Lambie to defeat the EIB. Hanson insists she betrayed nobody and ment’s response to the Westpac scandal – Labor senators applauded in joyful bewil- that she made her decision based on a that the board should decide the fate of the derment. The government was humiliated. detailed assessment of the pros and cons of executives – was in direct contrast to its The feeling inside was one of anger and dis- the legislation. approach to unions. She stuck by this despite belief. It still is. ‘‘At no time did I tell them they had my Morrison and his ministers stressing ‘‘Thanks, Malcolm,’’ a Coalition senator guaranteed vote,’’ she said. repeatedly the banks were no longer a pro- yelled at Roberts, who had wanted to sup- This is challenged not just by Porter and tected species, as evidenced by the Banking port the bill. Cormann but others in the Coalition who Executive Accountability Regime which Mathias Cormann is one of the most say the government received numerous could jail executives for up to 15 years. meticulous operators in the Parliament. As guarantees of support, both verbally and in Cormann repeated on Friday that Westpac the Coalition Senate leader, he does not the form of text messages going back weeks. allow a bill to progress to a final vote unless AFR Weekend, Australia 30 Nov 2019, by Phillip Coorey

‘‘will end up incurring very substantial fines’’. firies are as bad as the CFMEU,’’ she said. Hanson also cited reservations with Only on the night before the vote was powers in the bill that said unions could be taken did she present the government with put into administration if its officials her own list of amendments. By then, the breached workplace laws ‘‘on multiple government was already locked in with occasions’’ and granted administrators con- Hanson, or so it thought. trol over the union’s property and affairs. Porter said her amendments were ‘‘totally Administrators could also force employ- unworkable’’ and way too late. ees to give them information about the Hanson has also flatly denied that Labor union’s business and operations under leader Anthony Albanese, who took a lead threat of significant fines. role in negotiations, had anything to do with ‘‘We have seen the highly questionable her decision. behaviour of administrators, liquidators, What she didn’t disclose was that on receivers, and managers exercise unlimited Monday afternoon she took a carrot cake powers on their appointment by the banks she had baked to his office to discuss over in the One Nation Senate inquiry into rural afternoon tea the bill and the amendments bank lending practices,’’ Hanson said. she was proposing. ‘‘Under no circumstance was I going to As the government reels in shock, Alban- unleash their unlimited power and zero ese’s role in helping to thwart the bill has accountability on Australian unions or been important for his internal standing. other registered organisations.’’ Albanese is not of the unions, per se, in Porter said that not once, in all of the the way that Bill Shorten was. negotiations, did Hanson raise this concern. It was Albanese’s move soon after the He proposed what others on his side were election to expel Setka from the Labor Party thinking. Had Hanson done a deal with the that encouraged the government to fast- unions for support in both next year’s state track the integrity legislation into Parlia- election in her home base of Queensland, ment. and for the federal election in 2022? Albanese’s attack on Setka has made him powerful trade union enemies, especially t may be that, you know, at the end among the industrial left in Victoria. of the day, they reached some When Setka finally walked the plank a ‘I agreement with the CFMEU, but month ago, he claimed Albanese would fail that’s a question that you’ll have to the labour movement over the integrity bill. ask One Nation,’’ he said. ‘‘Mr Albanese was also failing to take up ACTU secretary Sally McManus rejected the fight on the government’s draconian the idea of the unions giving Hanson money Ensuring Integrity Bill, which, if passed, will or other campaign support. leave Australia with the most extreme ‘‘The sooner this government gives up on workplace laws in the world and severely its failed strategy of making up lies about restrict workers’ rights to seek fair pay and working people and their unions the better.’’ better working conditions,’’ Setka’s state- A Labor MP and former senior union offi- ment said. cial said it was unlikely unions would It was no accident that on Friday morn- donate money or in-kind support to One ing, Albanese was in Melbourne with the P Nation because that would be too contro- nurses’ union to celebrate the outcome. versial. More potent, he said, would be a As the smoke cleared on Friday, threat by unions such as the AWU to campaign against One Nation in working-class Cormann left little doubt he felt he seats in north and central Queensland. The theory is that Hanson has bought had been deliberately deceived. peace. To pass the bill, the government needed either Lambie or Hanson. Porter said he did not err by sidelining Lambie, who had promised for months to vote for the bill if John Setka was still run- ning the Victorian division of the CFMEU, which he is. That pledge also amounted to nothing. Lambie, who was being lobbied heavily by the unions and Labor, shared the same concerns about a broader application of the bill to non-militant unions. ‘‘I had to make a call whether to support a bill that makes out like teachers, nurses and AFR Weekend, Australia 30 Nov 2019, by Phillip Coorey

Top: Jacqui Lambie (left) confers in the Senate with Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts. Upper Right: Mathias Cormann during a division in the Senate on Thursday. PHOTOS: AAP AFR Weekend, Australia 30 Nov 2019, by Phillip Coorey

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese greets nurses and midwives in Melbourne on Friday. PHOTO: AAP