I talked to Marcus Paul on Thursday about the current inquiry into casuals in the workforce, the WA government’s shocking move to ban the Australian Christian Lobby from a state-owned venue and progress on the Defence Suicide Royal Commission.

Transcript

[Marcus] With a smile on his noggin, is Malcolm Roberts, One Nation Senator, hello mate.

[Malcolm] G’day, Marcus, how are you?

[Marcus] All right, well you saved a little bit of face up there on the Gold Coast last night.

[Malcolm] Yeah, I didn’t get to watch it because I’m calling from Bowen right now, and last night I was addressing the Chamber of Commerce, we had a fabulous night.

[Marcus] Okay.

[Malcolm] Bowen’s the place with the world’s best mangoes, but I saw the result this morning.

[Marcus] Yeah, and Bowen, I remember it well in my travels up in north Queensland, gorgeous spot, and you’re right, that’s where the world’s best mangoes come from.

[Malcolm] Bowen’s specials mate, absolutely unbeatable.

[Marcus] All right, tell me about this inquiry into security of work at the focus of course, on the casualization of our workforce. What’s happening here?

[Malcolm] Well mate, you know that I’ve been, really pushing hard on this issue for coal miners in the Hunter Valley and in central Queensland, and initially even Labour ridiculed me and just said, no this is nonsense, it’s not happening. I think some of the Labour MPs were trying to cover it up. But it’s now come out after two years of pushing this issue, it’s now come out into the open, and Labour and Liberals, sorry, Labour and the Cross bench, and the Greens have got together and we’ve got this inquiry up, sponsored by Senator Sheldon, and we’re looking into it. They’re taking the gloves off and getting right into it. And, but what I’m doing now is that I’m broadening it because job security, which is what this is all about, is not just about casuals, it’s about industry security because the Labour and Greens’ policies are ending coal mining, and it’s also about personal security because I’ve been shocked, as I’ve shared with you quite openly over the last few months.

[Marcus] Yeah.

[Malcolm] That people’s safety is really jeopardised and people have been crippled, and just tossed on the scrap heap with no workers’ compensation. That kind of stuff has got to end and state and federal governments are at fault, and we’ve really got to shake things up. And I’ve been very critical of the Hunter Valley CFMEU, and I remain so.

[Marcus] Yep.

[Malcolm] They have abandoned workers, completely, they’ve enabled enterprise agreements that have sold workers out. But I want to compliment the CFMEU construction division, because I read their submission into this inquiry, and it is first-class, comprehensive. And what was very disappointing was, yesterday, we did it, we asked questions of various organisations on Tuesday when I was in Rocky. And then yesterday, I had to stop at Marlborough in the bush and ask questions of the mining companies and labour hire companies. They were evasive mate. They just don’t get to the point, ’cause I think all along this whole issue has been, how do we cut miner’s wages? That’s what it’s all about.

[Marcus] Labour hire companies, essentially cut real wages, I don’t care how anybody tries to spin it, that’s exactly what happens. You and I both know it, and it’s high time that we do something about it. Tell me what’s up.

[Malcolm] Some of the companies mate, are actually giving people an introduction to mining. There’s some very good labour hire companies around.

[Marcus] Yeah, but I don’t agree with them.

[Malcolm] But some of them, they’re just ripping people off. I mean how did you get a mining company employing its own people, and then paying a commission to a labour hire firm for hiring other people? Unless you cut mining wages. You can’t give them a profit on top of miner’s wages, so they cut miner’s wages. That’s what’s going on, but there are some good ones.

[Marcus] Yeah well, maybe I might just disagree with these sorts of labour hire companies anyway, because eventually, it comes down to first and foremost how much money the labour hire company can make and workers, who are the ones putting in all the hard yards are always those that seem to lose out. Anyway, let’s put that aside now.

[Malcolm] Well, what it also shows Marcus, is that some of these mining companies, don’t understand that safety is not a cost, safety actually saves money and increases production. They also don’t seem to understand that if you pay people doing the same job, different rates of pay.

[Marcus] Of course.

[Malcolm] Then you’re gonna create animosity, it hurts morale, hurts safety, hurts commitment. That hurts productivity. It doesn’t make sense.

[Marcus] Yeah, it’s not just in the mining sector, labour hire companies hire people in factories across Southwestern Sydney and I can tell you some stories and I will one day that’ll make your toes curl. I mean, they just are ripping off workers.

[Malcolm] Yes.

[Marcus] All right, WA, let’s move over to Western Australia. I see the government there is upset. The Australian Christian Lobby, they’ve cancelled an event hire at the convention centre. The ACL had hired the convention centre, and the Labour state government cancelled the booking. Why?

[Malcolm] Well, apparently some gay and trans activists complained, and so the Labour government said, no, you can’t have that event. After they’d already signed up the Australian Christian Lobby to have that event in their convention centre, and also at one of the towns south of Perth. But Martyn Iles has been doing a fabulous job, I attended his presentation in Brisbane, it was first-class, really getting done. I think he calls it “The Truth of It.” And he’s doing a really good job, and what McGowan’s government, in the Labour of government in WA, I think they’re afraid of what he’s doing, and they’re just trying to shut him down. But really, it’s getting like Nazi Germany and China. It ends religious freedom. These people went out as a legitimate, everyday organisation and booked a venue, and then they’d been cancelled. So, this is just an end of free speech in our country. That’s what Labour is doing in Western Australia.

[Marcus] All right, well, the ACL, I’m certainly no fans of theirs, I think they’re a little too far right in some of their views, but look, they certainly do have a right in this country to assembly and get together and discuss issues that are of concern to them. So, I find it very odd and you’re right, I tend to agree, why are we shutting down conversation? That doesn’t sound very democratic to me.

[Malcolm] No, and that’s a form of control, and Marcus, you know I’ve said it many times, wherever there is control, beneath control there is fear. The Labour government in WA is afraid of these people speaking up. There are a lot of Christians, good solid Christians in WA, and they’re shutting them down. That’s not right.

[Marcus] All right, of course we know that the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has been set up, we’ve got an interim report due in August of next year, a final report, not until 2023. We certainly do need to do more to support our veterans.

[Malcolm] Yes, it’s something that Pauline and I have been pushing for quite a while, but I must give compliments and appreciation to Jacqui Lambie who has been pushing this Royal Commission for quite a while now.

[Marcus] Yep.

[Malcolm] And it’s not just in the veterans, it’s also in the defence suicide, and they wanna look at systemic issues and common themes around suicide, contemplation of suicide, and feelings of suicide, you’ve given a date, and I encourage all veterans and current members of the defence force, who have a point to make, to contact the Commission and make a submission, and then see if you can become a witness before the Royal Commission, it’s really important. I’ve said it before, we have a fabulous armed forces in terms of the commitment of these people, over 100 years. And what it is, is that we actually send them, we bend them, but we don’t mend them. And that’s where we’ve gotta do a better job of looking after people, when I think the Romans first noticed that, you know, what’s that a couple of thousand years ago. When a man is sent to war and he comes back, he’s a different person. We’ve gotta acknowledge that and look after these people.

[Marcus] All right mate, good to have you on, we’ll chat again next week.

[Malcolm] All right mate, thanks.

[Marcus] Take care. One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts.