Shock as Hanson and Lambie defeat Morrison union-busting bill

One Nation just voted with Labor, the Greens and Jacqui Lambie to block the Ensuring Integrity bill. It wasn’t a mistake. 

Liberal senators were staring at their phones trying to work out what had happened.

Labor and Greens senators cheered - and one bitter Coalition senator shouted out “thanks Malcolm [Roberts]” across the chamber.

On my way back to the Guardian office I saw a clearly shocked Labor senator Catryna Bilyk profusely thanking Hanson and Roberts. Hanson said that One Nation “votes on merit”.

As we’re not allowed to interview people in the corridor I asked if Hanson would like to invite me into her office to explain. She declined.

Under the proposed government and Centre Alliance changes, a union official who committed breaches of provisions punishable by a total of 180 penalty units would be eligible for disqualification.

Under existing laws, most industrial law breaches, including right of entry and paperwork breaches, carry penalties of 60 penalty units, meaning the new threshold amounts to a three-strikes policy.

More serious breaches such as misrepresentations in union reporting requirements carry penalties of 100 penalty units, with the most serious industrial law breaches attracting penalties of 600 units.

Union officials would also be eligible for disqualification if their union committed breaches punishable by a combined maximum penalty of at least 900 penalty units and the official “failed to take reasonable steps to prevent at least two” of those contraventions.