Senator O'SULLIVAN (Queensland) . - When I referred to this clause in the course of my second-reading speech both the Minister for Shipping and Fuel (Senator Ashley) and Senator Katz challenged my interpretation of it. How.ver, the clause provides that the registration of an employer or waterside worker shall be in the discretion of the board and, clearly, the exception made is in respect of ports, not persons. Can the Minister cite any instance in which a person who was not already a waterside worker would be eligible for registration unless he first became a member of the Waterside Workers Federation? As I said earlier, I do not object to the principle of preference to unionists, but that principle could be preserved if a person who desired to become a waterside worker gave an undertaking that before he commenced work he would join the federation. However, under this provision he cannot be registered unless he is already a member of the federation, and without such registration he cannot engage in employment on the waterfront.

Senator Ashley - Both this clause and the preceding clause provide for the registration of employers and employees at every port. A similar provision is made in the principal act.

Senator O'SULLIVAN - -This provision is identical with section 27 of the principal act, but, notwithstanding that fact, a monopoly is given to the Waterside Workers Federation in deciding who shall be eligible for employment on the waterfront. A person must be a member of the federation before he can be registered for such employment. That means that only persons who are " OK'd " by the federation can qualify for registration. Thus a vicious monopoly is given to the federation in this respect. I should like to know in what circumstances a person could apply for registration provided he was agreeable to join the federation after he gained registration. Is there any means by which the board could register a person if at the time he applied for registration he was not a member of the Waterside Workers Federation?