Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (15:02): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Attorney-General regarding industrial relations.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: There have been multiple and ongoing concerns raised in numerous states across Australia, including South Australia, about the influence and impact of the leadership of the CFMEU. There are a number of articles that question the leadership's political influence, their impact on sector competitiveness and allegations of misconduct including serious accusations of bullying, coercion and corruption. My question to the minister is: how many times has he met with the leadership of the CFMEU since coming to government, and when did he meet with them most recently?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for her question and I suspect she knows the answer to these questions, having put in FOI submissions that have been answered I think on a couple of times.

From memory—and if I am dramatically wrong on this I am happy to come and correct it—there would have been somewhere in the order of half a dozen meetings that would have included members of the CFMEU, maybe more. There are often meetings with representatives of unions. I know I have had meetings as recently as the last couple of weeks that have had members of various construction unions that include unions such as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union as well as members of the CFMEU. So there would have been a number of times—at least half a dozen—where representatives of the CFMEU would have been part of larger meetings.

As the honourable member would know from responses to FOI questions, there might have been two or three meetings since coming to government where I would have met with representatives of the CFMEU—and that's not necessarily all the construction division but things like the forestry division in the South-East—to hear of concerns.

In relation to leadership of the CFMEU, I think the honourable member mentioned either by name or by position the Victorian secretary of the CFMEU, John Setka; I have never met with that individual at all in my life, and haven't since we have come to government.

An honourable member: Why not?