Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

and, as it looks like now, bribery, which has been underway within the building and construction industry—a very vital sector of the economy in Australia.

What this reflects is why this Cole commission was put in place. It reflects the need for legislation such as that which has established the Building and Construction Commission, but what it also reflects is the weakness of Labor governments at a state level and the weakness at a federal level in terms of the Leader of the Opposition, who is prepared to cave in to union demands and to in fact allow to remain in place this sort of intimidation and thuggery and, indeed, possibly bribery as well. What it shows once again is the essential weakness of the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to these matters, his inability to actually stand up for what is right and what is proper—his weakness in every case that he simply bows to the bosses and the thugs of the union movement.

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