Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

It is interesting that Labor Party members here seem to think that this is all made up. They might want to go back and refer to the Cole royal commission. Apparently they will not believe that members of the CFMEU would behave in this way. It is only that sort of denial that could lead you to support this ludicrous bill that abolishes the body that  controls this sort of behaviour.

There are significant problems with this legislation that we are opposing here today as the opposition. Despite the rhetoric of the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations that it maintains a tough cop on the beat—and this is another great example of the minister’s cliches; she says ‘tough cop on the beat’ but sadly it does not mean anything—this bill removes the independence of the building inspector and it ties up the watchdog in red tape. It actually has a sunset clause, for the abolition of the powers that the new body has, to do its job properly. Most ludicrously, it contains provisions that switch off the powers that the new inspectorate within Fair Work Australia has to enforce the law. That seems to me to be an extraordinary thing to contain within Commonwealth legislation. There are laws that are established so an independent body can do its job, and you can apply to have those laws switched off. Why you would need those laws switched off is unclear to me. Of course, what will happen is that this will become part of negotiations and the unions will demand that these powers be switched off for any particular site and therefore they can return to their bad old ways without fear of  having a policeman on the beat that has the powers to draw them into line.

This bill also reduces penalties for unlawful behaviour within the industry by two-thirds. It narrows the definition of industrial action and it removes provisions that stand against coercion and undue pressure being put within that industry.

It is not just the opposition that is appalled at what is happening here. With the exception of the militant unions, which are going to be given carte blanche to return to their bad old ways through this bill, all of the stakeholders within the industry are publicly on the record opposing what is happening here. AMMA have supported some aspects of the bill but their overall impression is:

… the effect of the BCII Amendment Bill is to disarm the tough cop and tie up the building industry watch dog in red tape.

That is exactly what the opposition says and exactly what is going to happen if this bill passes through parliament. The Master Builders Association said that the government must reconsider the bill and not proceed with its passage and that the bill is potentially disastrous for the building and construction industry. The AI Group, perhaps one of the government’s more favoured business groups, have said that cultural change has not been achieved within the industry. They have raised concerns about the proposed switch-off provisions, about the five-year sunset clause and about watering down the penalties by two-thirds, and they are also concerned about the lack of independence of the proposed inspectorate. The Civil Contractors Federation have echoed the concerns of the AI Group, as have the Business Council of Australia. They have said that they want the bill delayed and that they are opposed to having switch-off provisions within the bill, provisions which are, quite frankly, ludicrous. The Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association oppose the bill. They say that this bill will result in:

… a significant diminution of the powers of the “..cop on the beat..”

and:

… there is likely to be a return to a level of unlawful behaviour on construction sites that prompted the actions that were taken by the government in 2002 to curtail such behaviour.

These are the bodies that actually represent people who are engaged in this industry on a day-to-day basis, and they are saying that passage of this bill will result in a return to the bad old days within the building and construction industry.

I will go on. Australian Business Industrial say that the government should reconsider its approach to the controversial aspects of the bill. The Electrical and Communications Association believe that the specific legislation for the building and construction industry should remain. The Housing Industry Association said:

To enable a long term cultural change, HIA submits the bulk of the current institutional framework embodied in the ABCC needs to continue without some of the significant “watering down” of powers contemplated in the Bill.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports the existing system. They say that the ABCC should:

… be retained as a stand-alone agency, with its existing capacities and responsibilities, and with its supporting legislation and associated instruments essentially unchanged.

Finally, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia, a body that knows all too well the behaviour of the CFMEU in WA, say:

Removal or weakening of such power is expected to encourage union lawlessness.

So there we have it. All of the organisations representing people who actually operate within the industry say that the passage of this bill is going to result in a return to lawlessness within the building and construction industry, a return to the practices that I have reminded the House about that were exposed by the Cole royal commission and that led to the establishment of the ABCC. It was established with the powers that it needs to maintain law and order within the industry—and all the resulting good that that has done for the Australian economy as a whole, not just for the building and construction industry.

Nobody should be fooled by the minister’s spin on this particular issue. This bill fulfils the long and oft-stated goal of the militant construction unions to abolish the ABCC; it is replaced by a toothless tiger that does not have the powers to do the job properly. In a tough industry, the new body is going to be weak and it is not going to have the ability to do what it is supposed to do. The opposition will oppose this legislation at every step of the way, because every Australian employer and every Australian employee deserves to be able to work in a culture that is free of lawlessness, free of thuggery and free of intimidation. They should expect that they will be able to go to work in the building and construction industry and have the same law and order that every Australian worker expects when they get up in the morning and go about their lawful business.

We will oppose this bill. It abolishes a very successful body and it fulfils the oft-stated wish of the militant construction unions. Nobody should be fooled by the minister’s spin on this. It is a bad bill. The opposition will oppose it.

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