Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Childhood Learning) Share this | Hansard source

Tonight's debate calling on members to support the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission is a prudent opportunity to remind the Australian public of why the ABCC was established. The coalition set up the ABCC in response to the Cole Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry when the brutal thuggery of some unions and businesses was making it impossible for small business and independent contractors to access sites without conceding to often unlawful union demands. Australians fully supported the Howard government's establishment of the ABCC, appreciating that we needed a body with the clout to enforce law and order on building and construction sites around Australia. The ABCC is responsible for monitoring conduct in the industry and prosecuting unlawful industrial action, breaches of freedom of association laws and addressing all complaints of unlawfulness in the industry. We have seen bikies on the West Gate Bridge, union officials being prosecuted over threats to kill, and illegal blockades of building sites. The blockade by the CFMEU at the Melbourne Markets relocation project site, between 19 May 2010 and 28 May 2010, is a prime example. The CFMEU refused to accept the greenfields agreement between the developer and the Australian Workers Union. Construction was blocked for 10 days by union members. Such heavy-handed, illegal behaviour on the part of unions provides the evidence of the need for the ABCC. When we have union officials blockading worksites with cars and rocks, and going as far as allegedly luring kangaroos onto a worksite to disrupt building, we have a real problem. This behaviour is unacceptable in Australian workplaces. It is a direct attack on prod­uctivity and employers, and the vandalism and obstruction that occurs on construction sites in Australia needs to cease.

Without the ABCC, Australia could descend back to the dark old days of corruption and heavy-handed union bullying. Yet preventing the bully-boy tactics of unions is not the only role of the ABCC. They do go into bat for workers, ensuring they receive the correct pay and entitlements. Workers at the Pentridge Prison Apartment development received back pay recently, when the ABCC became aware of allegations of underpayments following reports on Melbourne media saying that workers at the site had been locked out and had not been paid their wages. The ABCC can provide one-on-one advice to employers in the building and construction industry about classifications and hourly rates, record-keeping obligations, leave and termination issues and employment condit­ions. Yet Labor's contempt for the ABCC is longstanding. Despite going to the 2007 election committing to keep a tough cop on the beat, they are now backflipping—proposing to give the minister the capacity to issue directions to Fair Work Australia about the policies, programs, priorities and the manner in which the powers and functions of the building industry inspectorate are exercised and performed. This is in stark contrast to a commitment made by the now Prime Minister when she was confronted with a sea of yellow T-shirt wearing protestors in Brisbane in 2009. She stated:

Like me, I am sure you were appalled to read of dangerous car chases across Melbourne city involving carloads of balaclava-wearing people, criminal damage to vehicles resulting in arrests, threats of physical violence and intimidation …

Balaclavas, violence and intimidation must be unreservedly condemned … and the Rudd Labor government will do everything necessary to ensure that we do not see this appalling conduct again.

That is what the Prime Minister said.

It is a real shame that the Gillard Labor government does not share this commitment, and the only promise that matters now is one that has apparently been made to the backroom boys of the unions. Unfortunately, the faceless men of the Labor Party are once again pushing their own agenda. And if it means holding an industry hostage to enact their own power plays then this is exactly what they want to do.

The coalition supports the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and we definitely support the need for keeping a tough cop on the beat. This private member's motion is nothing short of a pathetic Labor attempt to appease its faceless union bosses.

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