Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in strong support of the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Bill 2013, which restores the Australian Building and Construction Commission. The ABCC was a highly effective, independent watchdog, and its re-establishment will protect workers and constructors and improve productivity on building sites and construction projects. The ABCC was established by the Howard government in 2005 on the recommendations of the Cole royal commission into the building industry and was very foolishly abolished by the Gillard government last year. This legislation fulfils our election commitment to re-establish the ABCC. Specifically, this bill re-establishes the ABCC and prohibits unlawful industrial action, unlawful picketing and coercion and discrimination. It ensures that penalties are high enough to provide an effective deterrent to unlawful behaviour. It is well known that building and construction organisations are well resourced. They have in the past demonstrated a disregard for court orders and are dismissive of fines as simply being part of the cost of doing business.

As someone who worked as an industrial advocate before entering parliament, I know how very important it is that our workplaces are safe and that our industrial relations laws are enforced. Sadly, that has not always been the case when it comes to the building and construction industry. The fact is that there was no good reason for abolishing the ABCC, which had been working so effectively to address the obvious problems identified by the Cole royal commission.

There is not enough time tonight to go into the litany of problems identified by the royal commission: fraud, corruption, collusion and anticompetitive behaviour, unlawful work practices, violence and inappropriate industrial practice. To say that this culture of lawlessness was a major burden on the building industry is an understatement. The ABCC was effective in removing the worst instances of lawlessness that were rampant in the industry. For example, in the 2010-11 financial year there were over 400 investigations conducted by the ABCC. Over 900 contraventions of Commonwealth workplace relations law were discovered, with $2.5 million worth of penalties being imposed by the courts and Fair Work Australia.

From its inception until the end of May 2011 the Australian Building and Construction Commission successfully prosecuted 74 cases and was unsuccessful in only eight cases. The number of investigations conducted over the last three years of the ABCC's operations had been increasing. Clearly, its work was not done. There was a strong argument for the ABCC to continue its work. The reality is that the ABCC was actually delivering some results.

Many of my colleagues tonight have already referred to the findings of the 2013 Independent Economics report on the state of the building and construction industry during the operation of the ABCC, which found that productivity grew by more than nine per cent, consumers were better off by around $7.5 billion annually and fewer working days were lost through industrial action. This is clear evidence that the ABCC was having a positive impact on the building and construction sector. What is Labor's instinctive reaction when something is working effectively? Better do something about it. In shutting down the ABCC it put at risk a significant part of the Australian economy.

Let us consider the consequences of Labor's abolition of the ABCC. Just weeks after the abolition we saw violence on the streets of Melbourne, with militant union protesters intimidating the community and their supporters attacking police horses. We had the incredible situation where workers on a site purchased an advertisement in the Herald Sun to plead with their own union bosses for the blockades to stop. We saw the CFMEU bullying nonmembers, labelling them scabs and calling for them to be run out of the industry. This action was in open defiance of the Fair Work Act and Supreme Court orders to end the protests. There was also terrible violence at the Little Creatures brewery in Geelong, where union picketers made throat-cutting gestures and threats to stomp heads in, and workers who wanted to get on with their work were told they were dead. There was physical violence—shoving, kicking and punching motor vehicles. At City West Water in Werribee the dispute was so terrible that workers had to be flown in by helicopter. In a shocking attempt at intimidation, workers were threatened with Colombian neckties. The term comes from the Colombian civil war in 1948 and apparently involves slashing a victim's throat horizontally and pulling their tongue out through the open wound. Seriously, this is the worst form of intimidatory action. It is just sheer thuggery. Most Australians would be absolutely appalled by such behaviour, but apparently the unions think it is their right to behave in this way. As soon as the ABCC was abolished, they thought they were back in business. Just this month, we saw CFMEU officials threaten to stop work on a Lend Lease project in Adelaide if a union flag was not moved to a more prominent position.

Of course, Labor were warned in advance that their changes would cause chaos. Those warnings came not just from the coalition but from many others. The former ABC Commissioner, John Lloyd, said on the day that Labor's legislation was passed:

This move will prove harmful for the building and construction industry, and the Australian economy.

The rule of law is now compromised beyond repair. Construction industry sources complain that the building unions are boasting that they are 'back in control.' They show no fear of, nor regard for, the new Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate.

The Housing Industry of Australia warned:

The abolition of the ABCC will promote building industry chaos.

The government states that it supports a strong cop on the beat, but these laws promote anything but that.

Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said at the time:

The abolition of the ABCC will increase the risk of unlawful industrial action and coercion on building sites. Those who comply with the law have nothing to fear from the ABCC and the existing legislation.

He went on to say:

The workplace relations reforms introduced as a result of the Cole Royal Commission have been very successful. The ABCC and the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act were central planks of the reforms. Today, the industry is a much better place to work and invest than prior to the reforms and this has provided huge benefits to employers, employees and the community.

Mr Willox concluded:

However, damaging and unproductive industrial relations practices have been creeping back into the construction industry and a strong regulator needs to be maintained to ensure that industrial practices are lawful and appropriate.

Master Builders Australia said of Labor's legislation:

This means the unions will be able to pressure employers to settle matters, including issues of coercion, reinforcing the very behaviour the law is designed to combat. All of the evidence points to the continuing need for a strong cop on the beat. This Bill just does not deliver on that promise.

And not only did Labor ignore industry concerns; they actually sought to muzzle dissent.

The Senate committee inquiring into the abolition of the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner decided to deny former ABC Commissioner John Lloyd an opportunity to even give evidence. They obviously knew that expert advice would not help their cause for restoring union power. Of course, as well as abolishing the ABCC, Labor changed the IR laws governing the building and construction sector. They reduced penalties for breaching the Fair Work (Building Industry) Act from $22,000 to just $6,600 for individuals and from $110,000 to $33,000 for corporations. They narrowed the circumstances under which industrial action by building industry participants would be considered 'unprotected'. And they stopped the Fair Work Building Commission from prosecuting parties for breaches of the legislation where the other parties had settled or discontinued a matter. In short, they gave the unions what they wanted.

Much has been said in this place about the very close relationship between Labor and the unions. I will not go into those murky depths today, but suffice it to say that it is a dependency that does not necessarily deliver a good outcome for our country. It is worth noting that the CFMEU donated $1.7 million to the Australian Labor Party in 2010-11 alone. Of course, the overwhelming majority of members opposite hail from the ranks of the union movement. There is nothing wrong with that in itself; it is just not very representative of the Australian community and it does not result in good policy, as evidenced by Labor's decision to abolish the ABCC.

Australia cannot afford to have a building and construction industry that is inefficient and unstable. This bill encourages productivity and the pursuit of high levels of employment in the building and construction industry. It will ensure that the government's policy to deliver the infrastructure of the 21st century is delivered on time and on budget. It will create jobs and investment by ensuring that employers and workers in the industry can get on with the job without fear of intimidation. The restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the code that supports its work is a critical reform for Australia.

The building and construction sector has a long history of disputation, and I have spoken in this place on a number of occasions about the history of some of that disputation. I went through it in quite a lot of detail in a speech that I gave on 20 June 2011, where I talked about reviews in the late 1980s, over 20 years ago, when the full bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission conducted a review into the building and construction industry. It was not the first review that had been undertaken of that industry. So we have a very long history of reviews and inquiries into this sector, trying to make sure that this sector, which is so critical to the Australian economy, works, is productive and does what it needs to do for our economy. It is one of our most important sectors.

As we begin to kick-start this economy, we will be looking at the building and construction industry to kick in, to make sure that it provides more jobs and that momentum gathers through the total economy. We certainly need to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and we need to do it as a priority. I strongly support this bill and commend it to the House.

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