Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

No. The provisions of the code of practice contained restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, and there were draconian monitoring and investigatory and enforcement powers for the ABCC, including the powers to enter premises, take possession of documents for as long as necessary and compulsorily interview any person for compliance purposes. These things were all found to be breaches of Australia's international obligations.

As I have mentioned, the great irony is that the proposed ABCC would mean more regulation, more red tape, more government intervention—

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