Labor presses Coalition to rule out accepting Bob Day vote on ABCC bill
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Version 0 of 1. Labor has called on the government to rule out accepting Bob Day’s vote on its industrial relations bills, after reports the Family First senator may not resign until after the Senate votes on them. Last week Day announced his intention to resign because his building company was going into liquidation. He said it would be “untenable” to stay in parliament. On Monday the Australian Financial Review reported Day had delayed his resignation in a bid to swing support behind his former chief of staff, Rikki Lambert, as his replacement. Lambert supports the government’s bills to reintroduce the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) and to set up a registered organisations commission to regulate unions. If Family First picks the state politician Robert Brokenshire to replace him, Day may not resign until after the votes on the industrial relations bills, because Brokenshire has not committed to vote for them. Day’s vote may be critical to the legislation. In comments to Fairfax Media on Monday Day noted he had announced only his “intention” to resign. On Tuesday he declined to comment further, but would not rule out staying in the Senate. Labor’s employment spokesman, Brendan O’Connor, called on Malcolm Turnbull to rule out accepting Day’s votes on the bills. “Bob Day is likely to be declared bankrupt and his company’s conduct has led to hundreds of families and contractors being ripped off,” he said. “By accepting Bob Day’s vote, Malcolm Turnbull will be adding insult to injury for families and contractors who’ve lost so much as a result of his business dealings.” O’Connor said nothing in the ABCC bill dealt with security of payments or the residential construction industry, which suggested it was not a conflict of interest for Day to remain and vote on it. However, the Nick Xenophon Team has called for consideration of better laws to protect subcontractors’ pay in return for its support on the ABCC bill. Labor has also called on the government to explain whether it had asked Day to stay on and vote for its bills. Guardian Australia has contacted Malcolm Turnbull’s office for comment. When Day announced his resignation, the government leader in the Senate, George Brandis, noted Day “had given personal guarantees to his company’s creditors so he and his family will be directly affected by these events”. Personal claims against Day as the result of his company’s collapse may result in bankruptcy proceedings against him, making him ineligible to stay in the Senate. But such proceedings could be months away. On 14 October, the solicitor general, Justin Gleeson, revealed to a Senate committee he had been asked that week for urgent advice about the composition of the Senate by the attorney general through the Australian government solicitor. It is not known whether the advice related to Day’s resignation. The Senate will consider the ABCC and registered organisations bills when it returns on 7 November. Day’s vote may be critical because, even with One Nation support and possible support from NXT, the government needs two more crossbench votes. Dave Noonan, the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union’s construction secretary, told Guardian Australia the collapse of Day’s company “points to the hypocrisy of the government’s position”. “[The government] says they are regulating for the rule of law but they propose to do nothing about the real issues besetting the industry including insolvencies leaving workers and small businesses unpaid,” he said. Noonan said it would be “a disgrace” if Day voted on the legislation and the government accepted his vote after his companies left hundreds of employees, subcontractors, small businesses, and home owners out of pocket. |