Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The construction industry provides many jobs throughout Australia for workers in small and large business, especially contractors. In the electorate of Forrest the 2011 census recorded that 8,770 people were employed in the construction industry, more than in any other industry in the region. It is critical to the growth and development of the electorate of Forrest, as it is to the entire nation. In fierce competition with the maritime industry, it is also one of the industries that has seen the worst of union behaviour across the nation, especially historically in Western Australia. The bad and often illegal behaviour has been an enormous cost to the nation and an embarrassment to the good and honest workers who were betrayed by the political manoeuvrings, power plays and greed of the union leadership.

It is this kind of behaviour that resulted in the establishment of the Cole royal commission into the building and construction industry in 2001. And it is worth recalling why the ABCC was set up in the first place. The final report of the Cole commission provided more than enough compelling evidence of the need for reform in the building industry at the time, and there is more than ample evidence today that, when you relax the rules to pander to union bosses, things will quickly revert to the same dire state. In 2001 the commission found consistent evidence that building sites and construction projects in Australia were places of intimidation, lawlessness, thuggery and violence that caused delays to projects and major cost blow-outs. There were then, as remains under the regime brought in by Labor, significant threats to investment in our economy.

The report of the Cole royal commission identified 392 separate instances of unlawful conduct, 25 different types of unlawfulness and 90 different types of inappropriate behaviour. That is why the ABCC was set up in the first place. This included unlawful strikes; unlawful payments; abuse of union rights of entry; fabrication of safety issues; compulsory unionism; coercion to pay wages and meet conditions demanded by unions; disregard of contracts and agreements; disregard of court and tribunal orders; workplace rorts; threats and intimidation; inadequate attention to health and safety; and interference in commercial tendering for industrial purposes. Unfortunately, it all sounds too familiar. Based on those findings, the Cole royal commission made 212 recommendations for substantial regulatory reform, both structural and cultural—and 12 of the 31 individuals who had breached criminal laws actually came from Western Australia.

The commission also mentioned a union training levy, which was a payment made by union members under the enterprise bargaining agreement. The commission was also concerned by the funding of the 'Construction Skills Training Centre Inc', the training company of which Kevin Reynolds was the chairman. That union, which has since become the Construction, Mining, Forestry and Energy Union, or CMFEU, lent millions of dollars to the company that was in fact the 'union leadership trust fund'.

These are the very reasons why the original ABCC was established, and it is why the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Bill 2013 [No. 2], before the House again today, is so important. This bill re-establishes the Australian Building and Construction Commission, a genuinely strong watchdog that will maintain the rule of law to protect workers and constructors and improve productivity on building sites and construction projects whether they be onshore or offshore.

This bill will reverse Labor's changes to the laws which underpinned the Australian Building and Construction Commission before it was abolished by the Labor government in 2012. It will attempt to shut the gate to building union corruption, which was opened wide by the Labor government under pressure from union bosses when they abolished the ABCC. The evidence and findings of the recent royal commission into trade union governance and corruption clearly define why this legislation is necessary once again. The bill will once again prohibit unlawful industrial action, unlawful picketing and coercion and discrimination, providing penalties that are high enough to provide an effective deterrent to breaches of these provisions and a wide range of effective remedies, such as injunctions, which will also be available to the ABCC and persons affected by unlawful behaviour.

The establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission in 2005 provided what was a genuinely strong watchdog, and it did deal with those issues that we saw at the time. It was a strong, specialist regulator enforcing the rule of law applying to the building and construction sector. The economic and industrial performance of the building and construction industry improved when the ABCC existed. A 2013 Independent Economics report on the state of the sector during this period found that building and construction industry 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.

Unfortunately, and probably naturally, as soon as Labor came to government in 2007 there was immediate and sustained pressure from building and construction unions to abolish the ABCC. In 2012, the then workplace relations minister, Bill Shorten, gave in to those demands and abolished the organisation and replaced it with a regulator with significantly reduced funding and powers. This unfortunately emboldened him and, with Minister Shorten firmly under control, construction union heavyweights got back to the murky business of thuggery that the ABCC had denied them for seven years. This included violence on the streets in the City of Melbourne, with militant union protestors intimidating the community and their supporters attacking police horses. We also saw the unprecedented action of workers on the site purchasing an advertisement in the Herald Sun with an open letter to their own union bosses asking for the blockades to stop.

The then Rudd Labor government was well aware of this type of behaviour in the building and construction industry and was understandably quite reluctant to abolish the ABCC despite strong union pressure. It contracted Justice Murray Wilcox to review the industry to buy time. Justice Wilcox recognised the need for and the benefit provided by the ABCC, stating in his report that 'the ABCC's work is not yet done' and 'it would be unfortunate' if the ABCC's replacement body 'led to a reversal of the progress that has been made'. But that is exactly what we saw happen. The Labor government set up a severely curtailed version of the ABCC called the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate. The coalition committed to the re-establishment of the ABCC during and before the election campaign. It is one more promise that we are fulfilling.

The government is committed to ensuring that the rule of law is maintained and that workers in the building and construction sector can go to work free of intimidation and harassment. The ABCC legislation deals with unlawful acts of both unions and business. The new Building Code in this legislation will ensure taxpayer funded projects are run efficiently and lawfully. Should an employer be found guilty of underpaying workers, guilty of safety breaches or misusing migration laws or visa violations, that employer will not be allowed to do Commonwealth funded work. The coalition also promised that a re-established Australian Building and Construction Commission will administer a code that will govern industrial relations arrangements for government funded projects.

The bill aims to improve the bargaining framework so as to further encourage genuine bargaining at the workplace level. It contains provisions to ensure that unlawful action, including unlawful industrial action and unlawful pickets, are dealt with appropriately. It includes the ability for the courts to impose significant penalties for individuals and organisations that participate in unlawful action. The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner will be able to exercise power to obtain information quickly and effectively without being hindered by unnecessary bureaucratic red tape around the issue of examination notices. However, to ensure accountability and transparency, the use of these powers will continue to be reviewed and reported on by the Commonwealth Ombudsman. Importantly, this bill encourages productivity and the pursuit of high levels of employment in the building and construction industry. It will help to create jobs and investment by ensuring that employers and workers in the industry can get on with the jobs that they go to work to do. That is mostly what they want to do: just get on with the job that they are employed to do and get on with the job that they have been paid to do without fear of intimidation.

In the future under this legislation the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner will be able to compel witnesses to attend an examination or to produce documents where he or she reasonably believes that the person has information or documents relevant to an investigation into a suspected contravention of workplace relations laws. These powers are needed to ensure the ABCC is able to carry out its investigations effectively and is a key tool for breaking down the historical and unacceptable culture of silence in the sector. There are appropriate and effective safeguards in this bill to ensure due process and transparency in the use of these powers. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context