Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to oppose the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2011, and I take issue with the previous speaker. The bill is not about trying to outlaw organised labour in this country. It is about trying to deal with illegal activity by organised labour in this country, and in particular in the building industry.

The bill will do three things: it is going to hurt Australia's productivity; it is going to set up a new body that, sadly, will be a toothless tiger; and, it will give more power to the new workplace relations minister, which is like putting a kid in charge of the candy store, or, to put it another way, like putting a factional boss in charge of determining the Labor leadership—it will be a debacle.

Let us turn to the issue of productivity. The ABCC has been a tough cop on the beat, but it has required a tough cop on the beat to deal with the issues identified by a royal commission. The inquiry that led to the formation of the ABCC was not a normal one—it was a royal commission. Since the ABCC was set up we have seen building and construction industry productivity increase by 10 per cent; it has provided an annual economic welfare gain of $5.5 billion per year; it has reduced inflation by 1.2 per cent and increased GDP by 1.5 per cent; and the number of working days lost annually per 1,000 employees in the construction industry has fallen from 224 in 2004 to 24 in 2006. At the same time, building costs have fallen by 20 to 25 per cent and long project delays have been dramatically reduced.

At a time when the Australian economy is struggling, due to the incompetence of this Labor government, the last thing we need is another step in the direction of lessening Australia's productivity. That is what this bill will do. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry summed it up quite nicely in the letter they wrote to the secretary of the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee when this bill was being looked at. They took the opportunity to thank the committee for having the inquiry and noted:

The outcome of the Bill is a matter of particular significance, not just for the building and construction sector, but for the broader Australian economy. Approximately one million Australians work in the building and construction industry. Their output contributes around 10% of Australia's GDP.

This issue is dealing with 10 per cent of Australia's GDP. You want to harm the productivity in 10 per cent of Australia's GDP. This decision will lead to long-term consequences for the Australian community. You should think again about having kowtowed to the Greens and having agreed to go down this path.

This was emphasised by the minister in his second reading speech on 3 November 2011 when he indicated:

The building and construction industry remains a critical sector of our economy, with immediate and direct impact on jobs, growth and productivity. This was particularly so during the global economic recession, during which the government's Nation Building and Jobs Plan ensured that the Australian economy remained one of the strongest in the developed world.

The minister continued:

The government understands that the industry contains unique challenges for both employers and employees, and as a result we have always supported a strong building industry regulator to ensure lawful conduct by all parties.

The minister then went on for a few more paragraphs detailing why the industry is so important.

However, the only effective response has come from the establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. This concerns dealing with the illegal activities that have existed in this industry. It has had a dramatic impact on the industry and on the sorts of behaviour and attitudes we have referred to. The impact has been quantified in a range of different ways, in particular by significant reductions in lost time in the industry and big improvements in productivity and efficiency, estimated at more than $5.5 billion per annum.

The decision taken by the Howard government to set up the ABCC was not a liked one. To have a royal commission look into an industry requires a lot of evidence that something drastic needs to occur. That is exactly what the Cole royal commission found. What has been the result of the Cole royal commission? We have seen the ABCC set up and we have seen huge productivity increases come out of the sector. But we should not now say to ourselves, 'Okay, the job is done,' because the evidence is still there that it is not. There have been productivity increases, but all the alarm bells are there. If we reduce the amount of regulation in the industry at the moment then the illegal activity will grow once again, and, sadly, we are seeing examples of that in Victoria, and we have seen it in the last few years. Just when we are getting on top of this issue, what does this Labor government want to do? It wants to step in and put at risk all the gains that we have made.

Getting to the second point, what they are replacing the ABCC with is a toothless tiger. I will turn to what the Australian Industry Group had to say about this.

A government member: Who have you got?

We have got ACCI; we have got the Australia Industry Group. What I am trying to do here is give a balanced perspective.

Government members interjecting—

All right, so we should not have business in Australia, should we?

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