Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, 100. It is a very good company. They are in opposition to my wife's company, but that is another story! Mr and Mrs Hurst's company builds around 20 homes in Wagga Wagga every year. It might not sound a lot to the Australian parliament, but 20 homes in Wagga Wagga—that is a big company; that is a big concern. When I was talking to Peter about the re-establishment of the commission, he was delighted to hear that the government will honour its promise and ensure that the commission is back in operation—back in vogue. He was absolutely delighted. Peter is a straight shooter. He said that the ABCC is 'an overarching governing body which will restore common sense and productivity to a much needed building industry'—and there is that term again, 'common sense'; we need more of it.

I think that point really sums up the intent of this bill. The re-establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission is all about common sense and it is all about productivity. That is why we all need to get behind this bill. It makes sense to ensure that the building and construction industry has a genuinely strong watchdog to oversee its activity. The intent of this bill is to make it easier for the majority of builders, subcontractors and labourers to get on with what they do best, and that is building—not looking over their shoulders, wondering when the next union official is going to stop a work site. Mr Hurst also told me this bill will 'restore equity in the corporate market between builders and unions'. And, if you'll pardon the pun, Mr Hurst has hit the nail on the head there.

The former government abolished the ABCC after pressure from the building and construction unions, who were lobbying for its removal along with the abolition of the building code which supported its work. And that is typical of unions. The Labor Party ummed and ahed about this decision for five long years until in February last year, Minister Shorten, now the Leader of the Opposition, gave in to the demands of his union mates and replaced the ABCC with a new regulator with significantly reduced powers. And there we have another example of Labor caving into the unions; caving in to those who run their show. When the now opposition leader made this decision last year, I spoke with a Wagga Wagga builder who feared that the decision would cause a return to the bad old days of union control on building and work sites. He told me then: 'We don't need the thuggery of unions on our work sites. Unions are fine but everything should be in moderation.' And the builder was right—unions are fine. I was a member of a union for 21 years.

In the time since the former government abolished the ABCC, we have seen violence on the streets of Melbourne; workers purchasing advertising space in the Herald Sun asking that their own union bosses stop blockades; and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the CFMEU, attacking builders whose employers were not members of the union. That is shameful.

This is not about attacking unions. This bill is not a union bash-up. As the builder told me last year, unions are fine. They have their place and they do some good work. I have told this House before that I was a member of a union for 21 years: in the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and, before that, in the Australian Journalists Association. But actions such as those I just named are not in union members' interests, nor are they in the interests of the building and construction industry. The re-establishment of the ABCC is an action by the coalition in government to restore the balance on Australian building and construction work sites. It is about ensuring this industry has a genuine and independent watchdog to ensure that people looking to build new homes or to have new fit-outs, extensions and the like, are protected from unnecessary interference from unions. The basic point is this: this bill is about the coalition government allowing builders, labourers and subcontractors to be able to do their best, to do what they are engaged to do and what they are skilful and traded-up to do.

We committed to this at the 2013 federal election. We felt that the building industry was in such dire need of this reform that we pledged to restore the ABCC within 100 days of the sitting of the 44th Parliament, and we will do just that. Here we are, keeping that promise to the building and construction industry, and doing just that, on the first sitting day of the second fortnight of this new parliament. As we have said, the primary objective of this bill is to provide an improved and balanced workplace for the building and construction industry and to ensure that work is carried out fairly, productively and effectively in harmonious places of employment. Through doing this, the coalition government will allow builders, including Peter and Debbie Hurst, and the many home-building companies in Wagga Wagga and throughout the wider Riverina, to do what they do best. But don't just take it from me—I have had a look at the Housing Industry Association's annual report for the year ending 2012. Under 'Industrial relations', the HIA has this to say:

HIA also strongly opposed the government's decision—

that was the Labor government's decision—

to abolish the industry watchdog, the Australian Building and Construction Commission. By mid-year, the industry had already witnessed a return to union militancy, with blockades notably shutting down construction sites in the Melbourne CBD. HIA has called on the Commonwealth Government to restore the ABCC with appropriate penalties against offenders.

And sure, appropriate offenders do need to be penalised. They need to have police action taken against them. But this bill will ensure that union thuggery is not allowed to go unfettered. Union thuggery is not acceptable anywhere. We heard the member for Melbourne talk about the fact that it is a crime, and he is right. This bill will enable the construction industry to get on with doing their job—and not have this overarching concern about union thuggery on their work sites.

The HIA is a key player in all of this. The HIA in New South Wales was a key stakeholder in a number of important reviews of the industry, including the rewrite of the Planning Act, the Home Building Act, the Inquiry into Construction Industry Insolvency, IPART Review of Local Government Compliance and Enforcement, and the Infrastructure Charges Taskforce. So, when the HIA makes a comment as sternly and as strongly as it did in its 2012 report, it needs to be listened to and it needs to be followed. This is an industry which is too large and too important not to listen to. This is an important issue which is too vital for the future progress of our nation not to be followed when there are concerns such as those raised in HIA's 2012 report about a return to union militancy. As a local builder in my electorate said, it is a return to the bad old days. No-one wants to see work sites being shut down for no good reason when building contractors just want to get on and build people's homes and do the jobs they are being paid to do.

Builders do a wonderful job for our nation—we all know that. Builders work in regional areas, but it is sometimes a bit tougher in regional areas than in city areas. Builders need to be able to work in an environment which is conducive to common sense without unions flexing their muscles. Australia cannot afford to have a building and construction industry which is inefficient and unstable. Restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the code which supports its work is a critical reform for Australia. The contents of this bill reflect this commitment, and that is why I urge the House to pass it.

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