There seem to be an awful lot of rogues out there. When it became clear that corruption allegations against former Health Services Union officials Craig Thomson and Michael Williamson were not without merit, our Labor friends were quick to brush them off as the actions of two ‘rogue’ union officials. As the stories of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s unusual activities with boyfriend Bruce Wilson gained a wider audience, they were quick to heap scorn on those involved as a couple of ‘rogue’ unionists. As lurid tales of stand-over men, bikie gangs and death threats again swirl around the more militant construction unions, naturally we are reassured that these are only ‘rogue’ operators.

The time has come for a Royal Commission into Australia’s trade union movement. The stories are too numerous, the hinted-at corruption so profound and the denials and excuses so implausible that a lid must be lifted on the whole putrid mess once and for all. Comparisons with the other current royal commission (into institutionalised sexual abuse) are worth pondering. Both scandals involve numerous extremely powerful, long-standing bodies within our community that purport to operate for the well-being of society. But due to entrenched practices of unaccountability and the accumulation of individual power, corruption and abuse not only take root, but flourish. Repeatedly, when confronted with such abuse the reaction of the power-brokers within those institutions is to dismiss the incidents as being atypical.

The allegations aired recently by the ABC and Fairfax involving the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union read like a script for a Martin Scorsese film; and more power to both those outlets for running the stories. Amusingly, some of the true-to-life characters named were also participants in the popular Underbelly crime series. But the role of a royal commission is not only to point the finger at the villains and offer some redress to the victims, but more importantly, to identify the deeper institutionalised causes that breed the abuse.

Clearly, there are structural forces at work within our many unions that promote and encourage corruption and criminality. They need to be exposed and reformed. Union corruption is not, as some would pretend, a victimless crime. Apart from the union members whose hard-earned wages are stolen, the small businesses who miss out on contracts or the investors who are being short-changed, at a more profound level union corruption taints us all. In a healthy democracy, we should all be free to participate in the economy to the best of our skills and in line with our ambitions, aspirations and opportunities. That there exists an institutionalised power structure designed to favour a politically elite clique via patronage, cronyism and thuggery destroys that freedom for us all.

It is imperative that Tony Abbott sets up a royal commission to investigate union practices. As many who supported Julia Gillard’s establishment of the royal commission into institutionalised sexual abuse were quick to point out, ‘If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear.’

Abbott’s free-market pitch

A long-time reader from the Apple Isle complains in this week’s letters page (see page 21) that as far as the Spectator Australia is concerned ‘the Abbott government can do no wrong’. We are, we’re told, far too generous towards the Coalition ‘despite the many issues on which they have failed to live up to the pre-election rhetoric.’ Our apologies, therefore, for this week’s cover.

In this issue, we are delighted to have Tony Abbott’s own account of his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos. In essence, the Prime Minister here restates the fundamentals of what Kevin Rudd derisively called ‘neo-liberalism’ and reminds us: ‘You can’t spend what you haven’t got’ and ‘profit is not a dirty word because success in business is something to be proud of’ and ‘government doesn’t create wealth; people do, when they run profitable businesses.’

Nonetheless, stating the obvious is not enough. Carrying on the excessive spending of his Labor predecessors is unacceptable, and decisions such as his government’s rejection of the foreign takeover bid of Graincorp are best not repeated. Every leader is entitled to one big blooper, and the important thing is that this protectionist escapade is at an end. A sense of urgency is required in returning our budget to surplus, and entitlements must be resisted.

The onus is on Mr Abbott to make sure the reality matches his rhetoric. Rest assured we’ll hold him to his word.