COVID Safe App

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This afternoon I spoke on the governments COVIDSafe App and why I won’t be downloading it. I understand this Government feels the need to get this app in wide use and is prepared to write good data protection rules to achieve that.

I would ask the Government to show it really cares about the privacy of everyday Australians by revisiting the wider issue of Government use of private data.

Transcript

Senator Roberts.

Thank you Madam Acting Deputy President. As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia I have pleasure in saying that One Nation will be supporting this bill. That doesn’t mean that I will be downloading the app as I’ll explain.

But firstly, I would like to compliment the attorney general for the work that went into this bill. When Minister Hunt’s regulations came out to accompany that app launch, my office had a number of reservations about the level of security provided on the data.

This bill is needed to clear up those issues and it has done so. I will mention these in passing for the benefit of our constituents. Then I’ll move on to the security risk that the app itself still represents. I did have a concern that the government was giving bad players an opportunity to access data on the server without detection.

So there are two aspects to this Madam Acting Deputy President, there’s the app itself and then there’s the uploading of data to the server and the storing of that data and the use of that data. So I did have a concern that the government was giving bad players an opportunity to access data on the server without detection.

The decision to ask the Office of the National Data Commissioner, the commissioner, to overview data storage and access is a wise choice that addresses this concern. We are pleased with that. I was also worried about Amazon having access to both the client file, which is needed, to identify app users and the data file for COVID positive users.

This in effect gave Amazon access to significant personal information of app users. So let me explain a bit more. The separation now of the key file and the data access, the data file itself, under the supervision of the commissioner is the best way of making sure Amazon and the government keep each other honest, well done.

So in other words, we’ve got the government storing the data, we’ve got Amazon storing the data and the government having the keys. Both are needed. It can’t be separate. There is one reason not one party can have control. There is one issue here to do with the cryptography on the unique user IDs.

The open-source app that the COVID-safe app took as a starting point only requires 32 bit encryption. I would have hoped the app developers have taken that up to 128 bit and we’d ask the commissioner to consider that. Now let me turn to a number of security issues in the app itself that need to be addressed.

My office has put out a detailed sheet on this, so let me quickly mention them here and move on. The user ID can stick in the phone case causing a phone to broadcast multiple different user IDs over extended periods of time, which increases the chances of a phone being tracked.

Secondly, the COVID-safe app overrides phone security settings to use the same handshake address for a phone over the life of the app instead of changing every few minutes. This is a major security issue in the app. Thirdly, the COVID-safe app stores the make and model of the other phones it has matched within plain text where it can be easily read.

This approach is not necessary since this data could easily be trapped when the app is registered instead of storing it in the phone. Fourthly, if someone has named their phone such as, in my case Malcolm’s iPhone under some circumstances, this real name is what the other phone stores, app users who have named their phone with their real name may be exposing themselves to danger.

This results from the app using different ways of broadcasting data to maximise the chance of a match. This tells us that the developers have taken a deliberate decision to compromise safety to achieve the most number of matches. Fifth, data stored to the cloud is not deleted.

If a cloud service is used to backup or sync a phone, the COVID-safe app contact blog gets backed up to the cloud. This can be viewed by anyone with a sign in without the phone user’s knowledge. So I acknowledge that this bill makes the behaviour illegal, but not storing some of the data in plain English would have been a far better choice.

Sixth, an app running in the background will not match with another app running in the background on an iPhone. The app does not meet the government’s, number seven the app does not meet the government’s own standard for app accessibility.

WCAG 2.0 A. It fails accessibility tests on font size and field width and people with a disability the first people that need to get this app. So that was sloppy. Eight errors that were detected early in the release of the app have still not been fixed. Registration fails over WiFi, which is used in poor reception areas.

Bluetooth conflicts with external devices. Power management on an iPhone interferes with the app. 3% of older phones cannot use the app an alert message advising users that they have tested positive for COVID was being accidentally triggered. This was fixed by deleting the message.

So currently the app can’t be used to alert users when they actually do test positive. I must however compliment the government for the sudden concern about security. Where was the concern about people’s privacy in this government’s capture and use of the metadata of every Australian?

This government is storing texts, telephone call details, social media posts, websites visited and website comments for every Australian. At Senate estimates, we discovered that in 2019 there were 297,000 accesses of the metadata records of everyday Australians by 22 different government agencies.

How many of these accesses were accompanied by a warrant? Madam Acting Deputy President? None. Not one warrant. Now I understand this government feels the need to get this app in wide use and is prepared to write good data protection rules to achieve that.

So I’d ask the government to show it really cares about the privacy of everyday Australians by revisiting the wider issue of government use of private private data. Because the government’s track record on security is poor.

So as I’ve explained Madam Acting Deputy President, the shortfalls initially in our assessment of the app were to do with the data storage and access of that. That has now been resolved or will be resolved once this bill, Privacy Bill passes. However, the reverse is the case for the app.

We were originally happy with the app. We now see a number of flaws in it. So that leaves security issues in regard to people being able to track the phone owner, the phone user and that is not acceptable. I also wanna make a comment about the blackmail that’s being used by the government to push this app.

Minister Hunt said, “you wanna go to the 40?” “Download the app.” We’ve just heard here Senator Bragg saying, “this is that ticket to freedom.” No it’s not. There are far more effective tickets to freedom.

The Australian people have already shown a highly responsible approach to managing this COVID virus and we need to extend that. We need to stop the blackmail stop the control that is pushed over us. We need to get back to the freedoms that are inherent and being everyday Australians.

That is part of our birthright, part of our citizenry that we have, are entitled to rights and freedom. When we have permission from something to do something from a government that is not a freedom, that is the reverse because there is being withheld until the permission is granted.

So we need to rely upon the trustworthiness and the competence and a sense of responsibility of everyday Australians right around the country. So Madam Acting Deputy President, let me summarise by saying that this bill is necessary, and that is why One Nation will be supporting it. It is welcome.

Secondly, the app is not up to scratch and that’s why I won’t be downloading it. And thirdly, we need to get back to freedom properly.

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Matter of Public Importance: Immigration Program

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Pauline and I spoke on our ‘Matter of Public Importance’ in the Senate: “When Australia restarts our migration program, we do not want migrants to return to Australia in the same number and in the same composition as before the crisis.”

Read Transcript.

Transcript

[President]

Senator Roberts.

[Sen. Roberts]

Thank you, Mr. President. As a servant to the people of Queensland in Australia, I recognise that for 230 years, migrants of many races and religions, amazing people from all over the world, have joined us to build our beautiful country into something greater than when they arrived.

Now, though, we may be ending 2020 with 1.2 million Australians out of work, and 1.2 million temporary visas. For 20 years, Senator Hanson has warned that this day would come. In 2016, the Productivity Commission issued its 700 page warning on the imbalance in our immigration policy. Their report questioned our high immigration intakes strain on infrastructure, the environment, and quality of life in our capital cities.

The government ignored the Productivity Commission, why? To keep the flood of cut price workers coming in and to hide the data showing a per capita recession. That led to a long-term pain on infrastructure, housing, wages, state budgets.

The inevitable result of that is high unemployment, and more underemployment. Many of these unemployed Australians are migrants who came to contribute their labour, yet now languish on job seeker benefits they don’t want instead of going to the job they do want.

I congratulate one of my Labour colleagues, on finally seeing the light and joining us in speaking up on the issue of excessive migration and foreign workers. People might not be aware that on the 3rd of May in a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece, Senator Keneally asked, “Do we want migrants to return to Australia “in the same numbers and in the same composition “as before the crisis?”

Senator Keneally’s answer was, no. The question now is, will Senator Keneally stand by her words, and will the Labour Party stand by their Shadow Immigration Minister?

[Sen. Hanson]

Very much Mr. Acting Deputy President. Well, One Nation submitted today a matter of public importance. And that wording was, “When Australia restarts our immigration programme, “we do not want migrants to return to Australia “in the same numbers and in the same composition “as before the crisis.”

Well, I have to admit they are not my words that was Senator Keneally’s words that she actually said in her statement. So it’s quite interesting that I’ve always said, there should be a debate on this. And I’m pleased to see that we actually got the call on this debate.

Now, forcing the debate on immigration and foreign workers is often a thankless task. No one knows this more than me. When you bring up facts, like more than half the nation’s population growth since 2005 has come from overseas migration, you get called a racist.

When you explain that, instead of flooding Australia with migrants to drive economic growth, we should be increasing productivity or investing in skills and training, people call you xenophobic. When you make common sense statements like Australian should get a fair go and a first go at jobs, people call you a white supremacist.

When you argue like Senator Keneally did the other day through you chair, that once Australia starts its immigration programme, migrants must not return to Australia in the same numbers and in the same composition as before the coronavirus crisis.

People even might accuse you of stealing One Nation policy. This is why today I want to say thank you to Labour’s Shadow Immigration Minister, Kristina Keneally, because I know she will not be getting much support from her Labour colleagues.

Reading through some of the recent comments made by Senator Keneally, I can only assume she has spent much of her time in quarantine, reading through my speeches from 1996, and taking copious notes. And because so much of what she said could have been taken from comments and arguments I’ve made over the past 24 years, perhaps Senator Keneally might want to make an admission here today that she’s a closet One Nation supporter.

I know it took Mark Latham a couple of decades to come out of the One Nation closet, but look how great he’s doing. He’s a new man, and loving it, so are these Australian people. Today I want to reassure the Senate that if Senator Keneally wants to cross the floor in support of her own comments, and finds herself thrown out of the Labour Party for breaking ranks, I will always have a position in my office for talented immigration speech writers such as herself.

I know I don’t often get a chance to congratulate my Labour Senate colleagues, but I always give credit where credit is due. And credit is due because by revealing herself as a covert to One Nation position on immigration, Senator Keneally has proven what I have long said is true.

So powerful are my arguments on immigration that even a staunch opponent of One Nation like Senator Keneally, will eventually be dragged to kicking and screaming to supporting cuts to immigration, cuts to foreign workers.

And I know there are many in the Labour Party and even more among Labour’s allies in the unions, who will agree with my position on immigration and foreign workers behind closed doors, but refused to speak the truth publicly out of fear of being called racist, or some other meaningless insult.

Right now due to the coronavirus, there are millions of Australians unemployed or underemployed. These are the people we need to look after, not foreign workers. This is the debate we need to have. We can’t go back to our old immigration programme.

Australians have a right to a job and a way of life that is not tied to welfare handouts. For decades, the coalition Labour Parties have used mass migration and foreign workers to artificially pump up economic growth. For decades, they have cynically used insults and slurs to try and shut down this debate.

For decades, they have refused to admit that this is creating problems with increased demand on our limited services, housing affordability, unemployment, and underemployment, wage stagnation, and congestion in our cities.

Senator Keneally and I have now warned each and every one of you that if we continue down the same path of the mass immigration and foreign workers, our economy will come crashing down. I moved a notice of motion today in floor of parliament.

And I’ll just read out some of the comments in this notice of motion. And it’s relying on high levels of immigration to boost population to fuel economic growth is arguably a lazy approach. Letting lots of migrants come to Australia to drive economic growth rather than increasing productivity or investing in skills and training is a lazy approach.

Instead of letting lots of migrants come to Australia to drive economic growth, we should be increasing productivity, or investing in skills and training. As at June 2019, there were 2.1 million temporary visa holders in Australia.

Australia hosts the second largest migrant workforce in the OECD, second in total number only to the US. One in five chefs, one in four cooks, one in six hospitality workers, and one in 10 nursing support and personal care workers in Australia hold a temporary visa.

Another one, when Australia restarts its migration programme, we must understand that migration is a key economic policy lever that can help or harm Australian workers during the economic recovery and beyond. And when Senator David talks about regional areas, it says here, we must also ensure that regional areas don’t only get transient people but community members who will settle down, buy houses, start businesses, and send the kids to the local school.

The whole fact is that the Labour said I was pulling a stunt no, all those words were from Senator Keneally, her article, that was Labour’s Shadow Minister for Immigration. And yet they said I was pulling a political stunt. No, I wasn’t pulling a political stunt.

The fact is that I called Labour out for what they are, nothing but pulled political stunt themselves, and Keneally was the one that actually made those comments. But Labour clearly does not stand by them, because they did not support them notice of motion today.

So who’s really pulled the political stunt? They use it when it suits them. As I said, high immigration props up our economy, has been used by both major political parties. And I will have my comment about Senator Faruqi today, and her comments said that One Nation stands by white supremacy.

At no point have we ever. And I’m sick of the lies put across in this chamber with regards to One Nation, and I’m going to call it out for what it is. And I encourage people to go to One Nation’s website, look at our immigration policy, which is non-discriminatory.

So that is purely lies. And to talk about immigration policy, we need the debate, Australians want the debate.

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New submarine contract should be cancelled

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Today I supported a Motion to keep the Collins Class submarine extensive maintenance and upgrade refit program in South Australia rather than have it moved to Western Australia. I also took time to condemn the new contract signed to build 12 new submarines.

This order will cost $200 billions. These submarines will be obsolete before they even get delivered. This money would be better spent supporting our economy as we recover from the COVID19 economic crisis.

Transcript

– Mr. President thank you, I’ll seek leave to make a short statement one minute.

– Leave is granted for one minute.

– Thank you, we supported the original motion, the current sustainment model that supports the Collins class submarines works well in South Australia and it is not warranted to move this to Western Australia.

Of greater significance is the absurdly expensive contract, that the government signed to purchase 12 new submarines over the next 20 years. The current cost of building them with all peripherals is now around $200,000,000,000, $200,000,000,000, has this government gone mad?

In the middle of this pandemic we cannot afford to proceed with this contract. This money will be far better spent to support the Australian recovery from the economic pit, that is caused by this pandemic. By the time these submarines are delivered, they will be obsolete.

A complete waste of money that would be far better spent elsewhere. The cost of $400,000,000 to cancel this contract is a pittance compared with proceeding.

We need to dump this new subs contract.

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No COVID-19 Stimulus Money for Universities

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Australian universities have their hands out for COVID19 stimulus monies.

When you pay your Vice Chancellors over $1 million and spend taxpayers money on non-core building activity, I say NO. 

Transcript

Mr. President, I move the motion as amended.

Senator Ruston.

[Ruston] I seek leave to make a short statement.

[President] Leave is granted for one minute.

[Ruston] The Morrison Government Community Group to support those in need, including international students, universities, together with states and territories of established hardship funds, and other supports. Australia’s universities are autonomous institutions governed by university councils. Reporting of liquidity across the sector as of the 31st of December 2018 showed total cash and investments of $20.3 billion. Universities are eligible for job keeping if they meet the relevant criteria.

Senator Roberts.

[Roberts] I seek leave to make a short statement.

[President] Leave is granted for one minute.

[Roberts] Thank you. One Nation opposes this motion. We are concerned that everyday Australians who are doing it tough right now may have to bail out the universities that have become dependent on foreign students. These universities expose us to significant financial risk when they’ve spent vast amounts of our money on overseas students to create more revenue for them.

So where was their detailed business case in their risk analysis? If government did a utilisation study on these campuses before approving more building, they would find that their existing buildings are underused. And universities should not be in the accommodation business.

James Cook University has just tendered to develop student accommodation at a time when I found 216 vacant rental properties in Town’s Hall today. James Cooke University should give us our money back. We value their research and teaching, but they must act professionally.

If the universities were serious, then they would lead by example and cut the million dollar plus vice chancellor’s salaries. Why won’t they? Because they lack accountability.

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Parliament must return to restore democracy

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This evening I spoke about how the Liberal and Labor parties have worked hand in hand to destroy our country.

Transcript

-Senator Roberts.

-Thank you Madame Acting Deputy President. As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I remind the government of a word whose meaning they have forgotten: democracy, essential for accountability. Yesterday, a group of 10 former judges, leading lawyers, and integrity experts sent an open letter to Prime Minister Morrison voicing their concern at the gutting of the parliament.

These leading Australians include former Justice of the High Court, Mary Gaudron, who described the Prime Minister’s actions as “unprecedented and undemocratic.” One Nation represents the interests of people who raise issues directly with us. We can’t do our jobs if the Senate sits a day or two every now and then. This is the house of review.

It may suit the government to never have their work reviewed, but that’s not how our democracy works. The Morrison government is not entitled to the Senate’s support on every matter. My remarks are not just criticism of the government, but of the opposition as well.

The Senate could have stopped, or amended, the gutting of our role if we were given the opportunity. We were not given the opportunity because the ALP rolled over and went along with the government. What kind of opposition are they? Since my return to this place, I have watched the opposition crowd in together with the government on benches that were never designed for the government and the opposition to be cosy.

The crossbench are now the opposition. Sadly, we’re rendered ineffective while the opposition and the government form this unholy alliance. What should we call it, Madam Acting Deputy President? The Uni Party? The Lib-Lab Duopoly? Lib-Labs.

The Lib-Labs combined to vote down a One Nation initiative to provide water to our farmers. The Lib-Labs combined to suppress action on our motion providing remediation, like-for-like relocation and compensation for the government’s PFAS disaster across the country. After each in turn, when in opposition promised to take up the PFAS cause.

The Lib-Labs combined to vote down the One Nation motion to provide banking customers with a code of banking practise that actually gave banking customers some basic rights. It’s no wonder that the opposition has decided it’s just easier to have no parliament than to have to keep cozying up with the government to vote down great work from One Nation and the crossbench.

This is not a recent event. The decision to sign away Australian sovereignty to the United Nations was a joint venture, accelerated under Labour Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who appeared to be bitter enemies, yet implemented UN policies.

All these years later the partnership continues. No baseload power stations built in Queensland since Kogan Creek in 2007 is on both of you. No dams in 30 years is on both of you. An unemployment rate that has gone from 1.5% in 1972 to 5.5% before COVID hit is on both of you.

The highest electricity prices in the world are on both of you. Well may Labour make fun of the phrase “snapping back,” as you have done today. The economy cannot snap back. Economic resilience is provided by middle class enterprise. Yet small business was belted hard well before the virus.

Water, electricity, government charges, commercial rental, red, green and blue UN tape have gone up while the incomes of their customers, everyday Australians, have gone down faster than opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s approval numbers.

Australia does lead the world in one thing, we have the largest decline in the number of small business startups in the western world. Down 40% over 20 years, despite our population growing 50% in that period. 50%, yet business startups down.

Oh, and that 50% increase in population has caused Australia to have the highest real estate prices in the world. And that is on both of you as well. What person in their right mind would start a business in such a hostile environment?

The Liberals and Nationals seem perfectly happy transferring wealth from small business to global corporations, whose interest they represent so well. It is a fundamental of Labor’s brand of socialism that a population reliant on big government is a population incapable of resisting big government oppression.

The same oppression premiers Andrews and Palaszczuk are now trialling in Victoria and Queensland. The LNP and the ALP seek different outcomes from the same actions. They are joined at the hip in the pursuit of the elimination of middle class enterprise.

This does not serve the interests of the Australian people. We must bring back democracy.

We must bring back democracy and accountability. Thank you.

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Pellowe Talk Live | 5 May 2020

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It’s #NotQandA! Join the conversation with your comments and questions LIVE as we discuss Lawfare by Extreme Green & LGBTIQAX+ activists, Planet of the Humans, does the ALP have “Australia first” policies, what’s China hiding, & the toxic reality of puritanical political correctness. Panellists include Senator Malcolm Roberts, Bernard Gaynor, Marcus Foo, James Macpherson & host, Dave Pellowe.

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Create the Office Of An Inspector-General of live cattle exports

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I spoke in favour of the creation of the Office Of An Inspector-General of live cattle exports.

The purpose is to provide certainty that the welfare of the animals is being respected while at the same time ensuring the commercial viability of the cattle export trade.

Animal welfare is crucial to farmers because farmers care for their animals.

That’s why farmers have poured tens of millions of dollars into educating people who handle their cattle overseas. I was following, in the speaking
order, a vet who said that core to the farming business in cattle and sheep is weight and that farm animals lose weight under stress. It is in the farmer’s financial interest and their own moral and ethical interests to look after animals.

That’s why farmers care for animals.

Transcript

As a servant to the people of Queensland in Australia, I want to speak in favour of this bill. Yet while I speak in favour of this bill, I want to explain two core contradictions that this bill highlights. First though, Madam Acting Deputy President, an overview. This bill provides for the creation of an Office of the Inspector General of Live Cattle Exports. The purpose is to provide certainty that the welfare of the animals is being respected, while at the same time ensuring the commercial viability of the export cattle trade.

Firstly though, animal welfare is crucial to farmers because farmers care for their animals. That’s why farmers have poured tens of millions of dollars into educating people who handle their cattle overseas. I’m following in the speaking order, a vet who’s just said that the core to the farming business in cattle and sheep is weighed and farm animals under stress lose weight. It is in the farmers’ financial interests and their own moral and ethical interests to look after animals. That’s why farmers care for animals. That’s why farmers have poured tens of millions of dollars into educating foreigners on how to handle cattle, Australian cattle overseas.

I can think of people like Bryce Camm that I’ve met in Central Queensland and in Darling Downs – bright, experienced, knowledgeable, committed. He points out things like export competitors, sophistication of farming these days. This is not just a simple matter of putting a few cattle on a boat, it is a very scientific business. Thinking of Linda Hewitt in Central Queensland – energetic, savvy, dedicated, and knowledgeable again, and similarly concerned about government interaction or interference in the business.

So Madam Acting Deputy President this bill is importantly not just about farm products, farm animals, it is about confidence in the cattle industry. Because with confidence graziers invest. With confidence graziers employ. With confidence graziers earn export earnings right across our country and that benefit comes through in the wealth of our nation Madam Acting Deputy President.

Some background facts. The live cattle trade generates $1.2 billion in export earnings, with $620 million being returned to the local economy. This employment is critical to local economies from TI in the north to Thargomindah in the south-west, from Cooktown in the north to Cunnamulla in the south-west. This employment is critical to local economies and in particular the Northern Territory and the northern parts of Western Australia and Queensland. Yet it’s important right across the country, not just in the Territory as Senator McMahon has just talked about her own state, but right across the country because the flow-on effects, as I’ll discuss in a minute.

But in the Kimberley for example, 700 local Aboriginals are provided with jobs by live cattle exports. Even the ABC noted that this job is “All these blokes know.” The live cattle export allows Australia to breed tropical, heat-resistant breeds of cattle in Northern Australia to be exported to Asia where they are generally grown-on locally. A lot of countries to which are live cattle and sheep are exported do not have refrigeration and people need to buy their food daily. And that means we’re looking after a need of theirs in their country. So this means the live cattle trade helps our economy, but it also helps economies right across Asia and the Middle East. It helps them with employment and also with domestic herd quality. It helps these countries overseas to help themselves.

Madam Acting deputy President, the graziers and employees like these Aboriginal stockmen loved these cattle. They respect these cattle because their income comes from the cattle and because they are living creatures as well. The demonization of the live cattle trade is an insult to good and decent and caring people. There is another perspective here that I want to add. As chair of the Select Committee on Lending to Primary Production Customers, I learned firsthand of the damage the banks and receivers do to so many cattle and so many rural producers. Yet I learned of more. I learned of government tipping farmers over the edge due to government interference in the Murray-Darling Basin, stealing a farmer’s property rights, the live cattle export ban, that flowed right across our country. It didn’t just affect the north. It affected the old cattle producers right around the country.

Prime Minister Gillard’s knee-jerk reaction, her capricious reaction in cancelling the live cattle trade after footage of foreign workers abusing our livestock emerged, caused terrible losses in the industry. These are now the subject of a $600 million class action lawsuit. Gillard’s reaction, Prime Minister Gillard’s reaction was to the ABC’s fabrications and sensationalism. It’s a pity that our farmers aren’t media savvy, because they would have been countering this a long time ago.

Yet farmers around this country are waking up. One thing that farmers won’t do though, unlike the Greens and the activists, the farmers will never tell lies. They’re using facts. And I want to commend their dedicated families, the communities that were cleaned out by the banks as a result of government facades. And now we’re entering even more dangerous territory because when a drought hits, it is often necessary to export cattle in this manner to save them from being put down. That option must available to farmers. This is, live cattle export is actually an animal welfare benefit. So One Nation are committed to ensuring live cattle and sheep and all animals are treated with the same respect overseas as they are treated in Australia and that’s why we support this bill. Farmers livelihoods, as I’ve said, requires care of animals. Yet the Green ideology says the reverse. I’ll discuss that further later this afternoon.

I got further now though because we are committed to ensuring not only farm animals but farmers and all Australians are treated with respect. So let’s consider the Liberal-Labour legacy that’s devastating agriculture. Here are just some of the things that I can list. The stealing of farmers’ property rights in 1996 under a Liberal government done with a deal with the Borbidge National Party government in Queensland. The Liberal federal government and the Borbidge state government. That was done as a result of the UN Kyoto Protocol. It was based on no data that the UN produced and it was based upon later implementation through the Labour party in the state of Queensland, a Liberal-Labour duopoly.

The lack of investment in water infrastructure is crippling our industry. We can see that now everywhere. A prominent Liberal, who I won’t mention, for whom I have some respect, was asked by a friend of mine just last week, “Why didn’t the Liberals invest in building dams 10 years ago?” And the answer was staggering. “Because we didn’t need them 10 years ago’,” was the answer. What rubbish. We need investment now to protect the future. Talking with a farmer in southern Queensland, who was talking in turn with a Chinese buyer in Japan, that’s how the international connections work. He was being told by the Chinaman that the problem with the Australian agricultural product is a lack of consistency. Not quality because our quality is better than anywhere else in the world. It’s the consistency of delivery, and this drought now stands as a beacon for that. So we need investment in water infrastructure, we need proper allocation of water.

Then we think about and some of the allocation has been affected by the UN’s Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which was based not on data, which has been implemented by the Labour government, followed by Liberal governments, and that was 1992 onwards.

Then we have energy policies, we have a drought and as I’ve said many times we have farmers in central and southern Queensland and north Queensland not planting fodder in a drought because they can’t afford the water prices. We’ve got cane farmers similarly worried about their energy prices affecting their farming, and the energy that’s crippling our country, the energy prices that are crippling our country are due to the UN’s Kyoto Protocol, the UN’s Rio de Janeiro Declaration, and the UN’s Paris Agreement – all based on no data, all due to the UN, and all implemented by both the Labour Party and the Liberal Party.

And now we have an insane government action in Queensland where the state Labour government is putting in severe penalties and restrictions based, again not on data, but on UN Protocols and on a consensus statement. Not science, a consensus statement. We’ll have get a cup of tea or a few beers and come up with a consensus statement.

Then we talk about the fishing that’s being decimated. Fishing industry decimated right around our country following UN Kyoto Protocol, following Rio de Janeiro Declaration in 1992 from the UN again.

Forestry, the same, no data to back it up, but now the Queensland Labour government wants to smash the forestry industry in south-east Queensland.

And then they’re just the specifics that are hurting agriculture in my state. And then we look at tax, we look at economic mismanagement, budget cycles now becoming ways of getting favours. And as a result, we see rural and regional Queensland being smashed. It’s not foreigners doing this, it is decades of the Liberal-Labour duopoly government.

Madam Acting Deputy President, we need real action, management and vision for the farmers of Australia. As I said, from TI to Thargomindah, from Cooktown to Cunnamulla, rural areas need the support of these restrictions, these artificial government imposed restrictions removed. Thank you, Madame Acting Deputy President.

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Letters: Abuse of Casual Coal Miners

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The following is a series of letters sent to BHP, Chandler MacLeod, CFMEU and represetatives, Joel Fitzgibbon MP for Hunter, Federal CFMMEU and Recruit Holdings in relation to the abuse of casual black coal mine workers.

Jump to:

Anthony Albanese

19 March 2020

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP

Leader of the Opposition

PO Box 5100

MARRICKVILLE  NSW  2204

Dear Mr Albanese

May I say how pleased I was to see you standing side-by-side with a Queensland coal miner in Mackay recently to launch the CFMMEU’s report on the wage implications of casual mine work.  It is good to see you supporting coal miners and the Australian coal industry.

For your information, there seems to have been a lot of banter and public political points scoring about the casual black coal mine workers, especially in the Hunter Valley.  Yet the reality is that there are many abused and crippled workers who need our help. Today, I seek your support to put things right for these workers and union members.

In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at BHP’s Mt Arthur Mine on page 16 but conveniently omitted to mention that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District was a party to the agreement (and others), that led to the 40% underpayment, the loss of entitlements and the abuse of so many casual black coal mine workers.

In summary, I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. I am told that they underpaid the casual workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers compensation insurance systems.  To everyday Australians including me, this is immoral.

CMG then under-reported the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save a few dollars on insurance premiums.  Surely this is illegal, yet the CFMMEU did not take action.

I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down.  They were happy to take their membership fees, but it was “a fee for no service”, which sounds similar to the banks.

This union also seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing with CMG to grant industrial peace and in agreeing that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District would not fight for these workers’ rights.  It concerns me that the union did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when the union did so for others nearby.

I am informed that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District is directly or indirectly a part-owner of the insurer that rejected crippled workers’ claims for compensation leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.

Coal LSL, a government organisation which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better.  They just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained Coal LSL ignored them. But now it turns out that after I questioned Coal LSL at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.

In using labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the significant loss of entitlements has seen the coal industry and BHP in particular join various national retailers and others accused of ripping-off workers with wage theft.

One of the crippled miners, Mr Simon Turner, repeatedly advised the miners’ federal member for the Hunter electorate, Mr Joel Fitzgibbon, yet sadly Mr Fitzgibbon failed to take action.

Further, I am advised that your party under Mr Shorten’s leadership took the policy of equal pay for equal work to the last federal election.

Mr Albanese, these matters require co-ordinated and integrated national responses, real action by the Australian Government and the States to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.

I invite you to become a part of the solution and contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual coal miners everywhere.

I would be happy to meet with you to brief you in relation to the serious immoralities and irregularities and the problems the Hunter Valley casual black coal miners and their families face in your home state.

I await your response in due course.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-A.Albanese-MP-1

BHP

19 March 2020

Mr Ken MacKenzie

Chairman of the Board

BHP Group Limited

171 Collins Street

MELBOURNE  VIC  3000

Dear Mr MacKenzie

I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at your company’s Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales and seek your support to put things right.

As an experienced coal mine manager and executive, I support the business need for casual labour from time to time, yet what has been demonstrated at Mt Arthur Mine through an exploitative enterprise agreement, work practices, rostering and the long-term use of casual workers in ‘permanent’ roles, is clearly not appropriate.

BHP, as the owner of Mt Arthur Mine, has a responsibility to ensure that both BHP and its contractors comply with the laws of Australia. BHP also has a moral obligation as a ‘good corporate citizen’ to care for workers on their mine site. However, I understand that BHP and Chandler Macleod used ‘cracks’ in the Australian industrial relations system to exploit cheap labour for the mine instead of hiring and paying permanent employees in permanent jobs.

I am informed that BHP failed to verify proof of insurance from Chandler Macleod before permitting workers on site. Surely your managers must have known that workers could be harmed and therefore, in failing to verify proper workers compensation and accident pay cover your managers have put both the workers and BHP at risk.

It seems to me that BHP may have a culture that hides site incidents, the result being that at Mt Arthur Mine BHP management did not report serious accidents that left casual miners permanently crippled and unable to work. What is worse is that these workers were not provided with proper compensation because the relevant award did not recognise casual black coal miners. BHP knew it – yet did nothing to fix it (I refer you to Dept. of Industry Resources and Energy (NSW) (Ref.: Sass-2016/00571 – “I can confirm that Mt Arthur Coal did not report the incident to the Regulator pursuant to Clause 128 Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2014”).

Regardless of how BHP determined to use labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the significant loss of entitlements have seen the coal industry join various national retailers and others accused of ripping off workers with “wage theft”.

What would your shareholders think of the Big Australian?

Everyday Australians and your shareholders expect that you and the Board would not put the company, employees or shareholders at risk due to breaches of legal and moral standards. We would all expect that BHP would behave as a good corporate citizen, yet clearly here it has let so many workers and families down, and in turn, that potentially exposes shareholders to unnecessary risk.

I am advised that the kind of abuses at your Mt Arthur Mine may be occurring at Queensland mines, and I ask you to investigate and to put things right.

These are serious matters that require real action in the form of co-ordinated, national responses from the Australian Government, the States and business to rectify the serious issue of wage theft and employer non-compliance.

If business cannot fix this Parliament may need to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements. I request that you step forward and contribute to putting things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere.

If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist you.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

c.c.      Mr Mike Henry – CEO

200319-K.MacKenzie

Chandler MacLeod

19 March 2020

Mr Peter Acheson

Chief Executive Officer

Chandler MacLeod Group

Level 5, 345 George Street

SYDNEY  NSW  2001

Dear Mr Acheson

I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at BHP’s Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.

I was concerned to hear about Chandler MacLeod Group’s (CMG) part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and I seek your response and support to put things right.

I am informed that CMG, as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement. Apparently, CMG underpaid the casual black coal miners 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. I and many everyday Australians think that this is immoral.

I am also told that CMG underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casual miners who were working at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money on insurance premiums.

I understand that CMG, as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed at Mt Arthur Mine and that CMG failed over a period of five years to pay these workers the entitlements due to black coal miners.

Further, I am informed that CMG entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that you had no casuals on site, when there were already casuals working for you on site at the mine.

Further, your company has allegedly submitted defective documentation to Coal LSL and CMG under-reported employee data for many years.  Why?  When I questioned Coal LSL in recent Senate Estimates hearings, they admitted they had found these ‘discrepancies’.

Regardless of how CMG and BHP determined to use labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the significant loss of entitlements has seen the coal industry join various national retailers and others accused of ripping-off workers with “wage theft”.  Surely it is time for you and CMG to act with honour and to take action to pay these people their entitlements and to compensate many for their physical and emotional suffering and trauma.

It is time for CMG to prove itself to be a good corporate citizen and to put things right.  I ask you and CMG to become a part of the solution.  Australia is watching.

If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-P.Acheson-CEO-CMG

CFMEU Hunter Valley

19 March 2020

Mr Tony Maher

General President

CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District

PO Box 364

CESSNOCK  NSW  2325

Dear Mr Maher

I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.

I was concerned to hear about your Division’s part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and seek your response and support to put things right.

I am informed that Chandler Macleod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement.  I am told that they underpaid the workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems, which to everyday Australians is just plain immoral.

CMG both underpaid and then under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working in the pits were ‘administrative staff’, just to save money on insurance premiums.  Additionally, it is disappointing that you did not act after casual miners raised this with your union.

I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District, as the representative of many of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down.  You were happy to take their membership fees – “a fee for no service”, which sounds just like the banks.

In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16, but conveniently ignores that your Division of the union was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment and abuses of so many casual black coal mine workers.

Your division of the CFMMEU seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing, through its actions, with a letter from CMG that bought that company industrial peace. Specifically, the CFMMEU implicitly agreed that it would not dispute and therefore not stand up for workers’ rights.

It concerns me that the CFMMEU did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when it did for others nearby.

I understand that your union is a part-owner of the insurer that rejected these workers’ claims for compensation, leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.

In my opinion your division’s recent public statements on this atrocious behaviour shows apparent careless ignorance of the core issues or an attempt to divert people’s attention from your division’s many failures on the issue.

It is time for you and the CFMMEU to step forward and to declare why it did nothing to protect these casual black coal mine workers, many of whom were members of the union.

This will require you to tell the truth because the issue is about much more than casualization.  It is about your Division knowingly condoning and supporting the exploitation of workers.

I request that you join with me to contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

c.c.         Mr Grahame Kelly – General Secretary

200319-T.Maher-CFMEU

Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon – Labor MP for Hunter

19 March 2020

Mr Joel Fitzgibbon MP

Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Resources

Member for Hunter

PO Box 526

CESSNOCK  NSW  2325

Dear Mr Fitzgibbon

There seems to have been a lot of banter and public political points scoring about the casual black coal mine workers in the Hunter Valley, but right now I seek your support to put things right.

Joel, I am informed that one of these crippled workers, Simon Turner, has repeatedly tried to contact you to set the record straight about the casual black coal miners who have been refused their fair entitlements.  More recently, I read some of your comments including those in the Newcastle Herald on 17 March 2020 when you say you are for coal miners but your actions say otherwise – ignoring calls for help from injured CFMEU members.

From your public comments it seems that you have missed the point.  This is a significant wage theft issue and is about much more than casualisation of the workforce.  It is about the abuses that many casual black coal miners have endured in your electorate, and that have continued for at least five years despite being drawn to your attention.

Let’s consider the big picture.  I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement.  I am told that they underpaid the casual workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers’ compensation insurance systems.  To everyday Australians like me this is immoral.

CMG then under-reported the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save a few dollars on insurance premiums.  Surely this is illegal, yet neither the CFMMEU nor you acted.

I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down.   They were happy to take their membership fees, but it was “a fee for no service”, which sounds similar to the banks.

In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16 but conveniently omitted that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment, loss of entitlements and abuse of so many casual black coal mine workers.

The union also seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing with CMG to grant industrial peace and that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District would not protect these workers’ rights.

It concerns me that the union did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when the union did so for others nearby.

I am informed that the CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District is directly or indirectly a part-owner of the insurer that rejected these workers’ claims for compensation leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.

Coal LSL, a government organisation which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better.  They accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained Coal LSL ignored them. But now it turns out that after I questioned them at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.

Joel, these matters require co-ordinated national responses, real action by the Australian Government and the States to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.

I invite you to become a part of the solution and contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual coal miners everywhere.  The first step in developing a solution is to truthfully admit the problems listed above.

I would be happy to meet with you to brief you in relation to the real and serious immoralities and irregularities, and the problems the Hunter Valley casual black coal miners and their families face in your electorate.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-J.Fitzgibbon-MP

CFMMEU

19 March 2020

Mr Michael O’Connor

National Secretary

Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union

Level 1, 165 Bouverie Street

CARLTON  VIC  3053

Dear Mr O’Connor

I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.

I was concerned to hear about the role of your union’s NSW Mining Division in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and I seek your response and support to put things right.

I am informed that Chandler Macleod Group (CMG), as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement.  I am told that they underpaid the workers 40% knowing these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems, which to everyday Australians is just plain immoral.

CMG both underpaid and then under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working in the pits were ‘administrative staff’, in order to save money on insurance premiums.  Additionally, it is disappointing that the NSW Mining Division did not act after casual miners raised this with your union.

I believe that the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District in the Hunter Valley, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers let these and other mine workers down.  The Division was happy to take membership fees – “a fee for no service”, which sounds just like the banks.

In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16, but conveniently forgot that the CFMMEU was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment and abuses of so many casual black coal mine workers.

Your Division of the CFMMEU seems to have done a ‘deal with the devil’ in agreeing, through its actions, with a letter from CMG that bought that company industrial peace. Specifically, the CFMMEU implicitly agreed that it would not dispute and therefore not stand up for workers’ rights.

It concerns me that the CFMMEU did not launch a class action on behalf of these disadvantaged workers when they did for others nearby.

I understand that your union, or its mining division, is a part-owner of the insurer that rejected these workers’ claims for compensation leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.

Coal LSL, a government organisation which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better. They just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained, Coal LSL ignored them. But now, as it turns out, after I questioned Coal LSL at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.

Michael, these matters require co-ordinated national responses, real action from the Australian Government, the States and stakeholders like you, to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.

I request you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere.

If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-M.OConnor-CFMMEU

Recruit Holdings

19 March 2020

Mr Masumi Minegishi

President, CEO & Chairman of the Board

Recruit Holdings Co Ltd

8-4-17 Ginza, Chuo-ku

TOKYO  JAPAN

Dear Mr Minegishi

As someone who has worked in an executive position within Australia’s coal export industry, my experience is that Japanese businesses and joint venture partners highly value behaving with integrity and honour.

I write today to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at BHP’s Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales, Australia.

I note that your company owns the Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG), which has been a significant contributor to the abuses that hardworking Australians have had to endure and, with respect, I am seeking your support to put things right.

I am informed that CMG as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to perform wage theft from casual black coal miners by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement.  This agreement allowed your company to underpay workers 40%, knowing these workers were slipping through the cracks in the Australian industrial relations and workers compensation insurance systems.

Further, I understand that CMG under-declared the number of employees they had on site and the types of work they did, declaring that the casual miners who were working at the coalface in coal production were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money on insurance premiums.  I am sure that you understand that this may be both fraudulent and illegal.

I am also informed that CMG declared that they had no casuals when there were already casual miners working for the company on site at the mine. I know that CMG employs a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and therefore most likely management would have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.

Regardless of how CMG and BHP determined to use labour-hire as a way of reducing mine production costs, the lower pay rates and the workers’ significant loss of entitlements has seen the coal industry join various national retailers and others accused of ripping off workers with “wage theft”.

In doing so, there is a risk that not only will CMG be liable for repayment of these workers’ entitlements, they may have put at risk their AUD $300 million worth of Australian Government labour hire business, if the Mt Arthur breaches are proven to demonstrate that they are not fit to have government work.

I understand that CMG is ‘waiting’ to see what happens.  In my view, it is time for action.

It is time for Recruit Holdings and for CMG to prove themselves to be honourable and good corporate citizens and to put things right. 

If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-M.Minegishi-RHC

Hon. Victor Dominello MP – NSW Minister for Customer Service

19 March 2020

The Hon Victor Dominello MP

Minister for Customer Service

GPO Box 5341

SYDNEY  NSW  2001

Dear Mr Dominello

I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers in the NSW Hunter Valley coalfields.

I was concerned to hear about SIRA and iCare’s part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and seek your support to put things right.

For your information, I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG) as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to rip-off casual workers.  They negotiated a ‘sham’ agreement to underpay workers 40%, knowing these workers were slipping through the cracks in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. They, like others, underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface in coal production were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money reducing insurance and workers compensation premiums. Surely this is illegal?

It is understood that CMG as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed to work in the Mt Arthur Mine and over a period of five years they failed to pay them or credit them with the entitlements due to black coal miners.

I am also informed that CMG entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that they had no casuals, when there were already casuals working for them on site at the mine.  CMG, like many such companies, employed a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and would have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.

Coal LSL, a government organisation and one which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better.  It has been revealed in Senate Estimates hearings that they just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained, Coal LSL ignored them.  But now, as it turns out, after I questioned them at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.

As you are one of the NSW Ministers responsible I draw to your attention my concerns that the NSW based workers compensation and insurance agencies like iCare, SIRA and Coal Mines Insurance do not care and have ignored legitimate claims from these black coal mine workers.  Due to ‘cracks’ in the system, these workers have been denied the rights owed to them. I would be happy to refer the individual cases to the appropriate authorities for review.  

I ask that you ensure that these abused coal workers get their due entitlements from the correct scheme for black coal miners.

These matters require co-ordinated responses, real action by the NSW and Australian Governments to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour hire arrangements. I request that you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners in the Hunter Valley. 

If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-V.Dominello-MP

Hon. Kevin Anderson MP – NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation

19 March 2020

The Hon Kevin Anderson MP

Minister for Better Regulation & Innovation

GPO Box 5341

SYDNEY  NSW  2001

Dear Mr Anderson

I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers in the NSW Hunter Valley coalfields.

I was concerned to hear about SIRA and iCare’s part in the abuses these everyday Australians have endured and seek your support to put things right.

For your information, I am informed that Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG) as the labour-hire employer, may have colluded with the CFMEU (Hunter Valley Mines Division) to rip-off casual workers.  They negotiated a ‘sham’ agreement to underpay workers 40%, knowing these workers were slipping through the cracks in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. They, like others, underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working at the coalface in coal production were ‘administrative staff’ in order to save money reducing insurance and workers compensation premiums. Surely this is illegal?

It is understood that CMG as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed to work in the Mt Arthur Mine and over a period of five years they failed to pay them or credit them with the entitlements due to black coal miners.

I am also informed that CMG entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that they had no casuals, when there were already casuals working for them on site at the mine.  CMG, like many such companies, employed a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and would have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.

Coal LSL, a government organisation and one which is ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better.  It has been revealed in Senate Estimates hearings that they just accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them, and when employees complained, Coal LSL ignored them.  But now, as it turns out, after I questioned them at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.

As you are one of the NSW Ministers responsible I draw to your attention my concerns that the NSW based workers compensation and insurance agencies like iCare, SIRA and Coal Mines Insurance do not care and have ignored legitimate claims from these black coal mine workers.  Due to ‘cracks’ in the system, these workers have been denied the rights owed to them. I would be happy to refer the individual cases to the appropriate authorities for review.  

I ask that you ensure that these abused coal workers get their due entitlements from the correct scheme for black coal miners.

These matters require co-ordinated responses, real action by the NSW and Australian Governments to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour hire arrangements. I request that you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners in the Hunter Valley. 

If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-K.Anderson-MP

Hon. Christian Porter MP – Attorney General and Minister for Industrial Relations

19 March 2020

The Hon Christian Porter MP

Attorney General & Minister for Industrial Relations

PO Box 6022

House of Representatives

Australian Parliament House

CANBERRA  ACT  2600

Dear Mr Porter

I write to express my concern in regard to the abuses of casual black coal mine workers at Mt Arthur Mine in New South Wales.

I am confident you will agree that BHP as the mine owner has a responsibility to ensure that BHP and its contractors comply with the laws of Australia, and BHP has a moral obligation as a ‘good corporate citizen’ to care for workers on their mine site.  BHP used Australia’s ‘broken’ IR system and engaged with a labour-hire company to buy cheap labour for the mine, instead of hiring and paying permanent and part-time employees in permanent secure jobs.

To my knowledge BHP did not verify proof of insurance from Chandler MacLeod Group (CMG) to permit them on site, yet they did so knowing workers could be harmed and had no proper workers’ compensation cover.

It seems that BHP has a culture that hides site incidents and that they did not report accidents that left casual miners permanently crippled and unable to work without proper compensation, because the rules did not recognise casual black coal miners.  BHP knew it yet did nothing to fix it. (proof – Dept. of Industry Resources and Energy (NSW) (Ref.: Sass-2016/00571) “I can confirm that Mt Arthur Coal did not report the incident to the Regulator pursuant to Clause 128 Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2014”).

I am also led to believe that CMG as the labour-hire employer may have colluded with the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District to rip-off casual workers by negotiating a ‘sham’ agreement to underpay the workers 40%.  They knew these workers were slipping through the ‘cracks’ in the industrial relations and workers insurance systems. They, like others, underpaid and under-declared the number of people on site and the types of jobs they did, declaring that the casuals who were working in production at the coalface were ‘administrative staff’, in order to save money.

I understand that CMG, as the employer, did not have appropriate insurances to cover workers they employed in the Mt Arthur Mine and failed to pay them for a period of over five years the relevant entitlements due to black coal miners.

I am also informed that CMG may have entered into an enterprise agreement declaring that they had no casuals, when there were already casuals working for them on site at the mine.  CMG, like many such companies, employed a team of employment and industrial relations professionals and would most likely have done these immoral things knowing they were taking advantage of these workers.

For your information, CMG has approximately $300 million worth of Australian Government business, most likely paying people less than the public servants they work beside and the government has yet to review this contractor for wage theft or potential breaches of employment standards for casual workers.

The CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District in the Hunter Valley, as the representative of the Hunter Valley casual black coal mine workers, let these and other mine workers down. The CFMEU needs to step forward and declare why it did nothing to protect these casual black coal mine workers, many of whom were members of the union. The union was happy to take the miners’ membership fees  “for no service”, just like the banks.

The CFMMEU did a ‘deal with the devil’ when they agreed with a letter from CMG that bought industrial peace.  Following receipt of the CMG letter the CFMEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District did not support these workers’ rights.

The CFMMEU are also part-owner of the insurer that chose to let these workers down, by rejecting their claims for compensation and leaving them with just over $400 a week on which to live.

Attorney General, as the minister responsible for our industrial and employment laws and regulations, I draw to your attention that the Liberal National Government and the Australian Labor Party are both to blame for putting in place an industrial relations system that let this happen.  They implemented a slow and sometimes expensive review system that causes hardworking Australians to go for years without justice.  There should be a better and quicker way.

In the recent McKell Institute Report “Wage cutting strategies in the Mining Industry” March 2020, the author refers to abuses at Mt Arthur Mine on page 16, but conveniently omitted that the CFMMEU was a party to the agreement that led to the underpayment and abuses of so many casual black coal mine workers.  An agreement that was all too quickly rubberstamped by the Fair Work Commission.

The Fair Work Commission is not without blame.  The organisation we are supposed to trust to protect our employment standards left a gaping hole in employee entitlements and insurances when they rubberstamped the CMG enterprise agreement, along with so many other similarly defective agreements. This disregard for the outcomes of their decisions has left so many broken and injured people without their lawful entitlements. 

Further, the Fair Work Ombudsman simply rubbed salt into the wounds of these broken workers when they said there is no such thing as a casual black coal miner and told any who asked for help to ‘go see a lawyer’.  This is not the Australian way.

Coal LSL, a government organisation ruled by the CFMMEU and the Minerals Councils, is no better.  They accepted timesheets from employers without questioning them and when employees complained, Coal LSL demonstrated their lack of governance and ignored them.  But now, as it turns out, after I questioned Coal LSL at Senate Estimates, these workers were right and Coal LSL was wrong.

Some abused employees are also concerned that these rogue labour-hire companies may ‘phoenix’ themselves rather than paying what they owe, leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill.  I trust that you will do all in your power to prevent this.

Attorney-General, these matters require co-ordinated national responses, real action by the Australian Government and by the States to rectify the serious issue of employer non-compliance and to introduce tougher employment laws to deal with wage theft and exploitative labour-hire arrangements.

I request that you contribute to this effort to put things right for these everyday Australians and for casual miners everywhere and enable a system to get them their due entitlements as black coal mine workers.

If you require further information or wish to discuss this matter I would be happy to assist you.

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Roberts

Senator for Queensland

200319-C.Porter-Attorney-General

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My ANZAC Day 2020 Message

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic ANZAC Day events will not be open to the public this year.

The Australian War Memorial service will be broadcast live across Australia by the ABC and streamed online between 5.30am to 6.00am.

Show your support for our ANZACs at home.

On Saturday, at 6am we invite you to light up the dawn at the end of your driveway, on your balcony, or in your living room to remember all those who have served and sacrificed.

Transcript

Anzac Day is a time to honour Australia’s men and women who have answered our country’s call to protect our freedoms and way of life. And sometimes to assist other nations in protecting democracy.

With this year’s health concerns around the virus, our community is unable to have the usual Anzac Day commemorations around the country and within our communities. I’m disappointed that I can’t join these services and listen to our veterans and current servicemen and servicewomen.

I want to let you know that you will be in my thoughts and that my family and I will commemorate Anzac Day starting with the broadcast of the Australian War Memorial’s National Dawn Service on ABC-TV, from 5:30 in the morning through till 6:00 a.m., and then with a minute silence at the end of our driveway, holding a candle to remember our fallen soldiers and to appreciate our defence services.

Many years ago, a close friend of mine said that the War Memorial in Canberra was a monument to war. Rubbish. I told my mate Michael, “It isn’t. “It’s a symbol of the qualities we admire in people. “Their care, their loyalty, sacrifice, duty, patriotism.

“And an expression of our appreciation, “our debt of gratitude.” Every Anzac Day, I’m moved to tears because of the futility of war and the sometimes senseless loss, tragic loss of so many fine young lives. Combined with feelings of appreciation and a sense of awe.

How did our soldiers possibly and amazingly achieve what they did under such adverse, horrible conditions? In so many terrains, climates and nations around the world. Because of that, I feel a sense of obligation, that these days we need to fulfil our duty to preserve our soldiers’ gift and legacy.

In that gift, they gave us the responsibility to maintain personal liberties and freedoms and to restore our national sovereignty. The challenges we face today are from globalism, an insidious, almost invisible, creeping, gradual loss of independence and the continued collapse into dependency.

It threatens that for which our soldiers fought. Yet unlike jackboots, rifles and aircraft, it’s difficult to see. It poses a similar threat. The loss of our national values, loss of our independence, and indeed the loss of our nation. In finishing now, during the current health threat, I hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

And know that even though we can’t see each other today, you are in our thoughts and prayers. And I hope that we all reflect appreciatively on our servicemen and women and their gift and legacy to us all, and reflect on our duty to protect that legacy.

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Live Broadcast: 23rd April

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This evening I held a Facebook live session where I answered your questions from the comments section.

Lasted nearly 2 hours, covered dozens of topic and hundreds of comments.

Thanks everyone for your input.

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