David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against this motion. I'm happy to put on the record that I didn't receive any money from the CFMMEU, but it's good to see it went to some good purposes.

The construction industry is one of the largest-employing industries, at around 8.7 per cent of the Australian workforce. This is over 1.17 million people, and this figure is projected to grow by over 66,000 workers over the five years to November 2026. Furthermore, the Reserve Bank of Australia forecasts the sector to be worth over $424 billion in revenue in 2021-22.

With such a sizeable workforce that contributes so significantly to the Australian economy, it is extraordinary how we currently undermine building workers with laws and regulations different from those in any other industry. They are the only industry with specific unfair-workplace-relations legislation, all under the guise of improving productivity. The previous government established yet again the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the accompanying Code for the Tendering and Performance of Building Work. The very name of the act that re-established the two is the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act. The stated aim of the act is:

… to provide an improved workplace relations framework for building work to ensure that building work is carried out fairly, efficiently and productively, without distinction between interests of building industry participants, and for the benefit of all building industry participants and for the benefit of the Australian economy as a whole.

If this is the act's aim, the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act is one of the least successful pieces of legislation in Australian history.

Incredibly, since its re-establishment in 2016, the ABCC has overseen a decline in productivity growth in construction. It has failed on the key performance indicator that it was apparently established for. But, in addition, critical issues such as poor work health and safety, noncompliance with wages and entitlements obligations, unpaid subcontractors and sham contracting continue to plague the industry. What we are seeing is a highly politicised and discredited ABCC targeting workers purely for ideological reasons. They have been more concerned with dismantling unions and harassing and punishing workers over trivial nonsense such as union logos on a helmet or a poster. It's proven that it's an unnecessary body and a waste of taxpayers' money.

The government went to the election with the promise to end the unfair treatment of building and construction workers, and we intend to achieve that. We understand that the best way to increase productivity in the industry is better cooperation between employers and employees—a relationship built on mutual trust and respect rather than conflict. Importantly, building workers should be subject to the same laws and regulations as all other workers. We have the Fair Work Act and the Fair Work Ombudsman to enforce it across all industries, and the construction industry should be no exception. There won't be a shortfall in workplace relations regulation within the industry.

Over the last couple of months, we've been fortunate to listen to some wonderful first speeches from across the chamber. However, there seems to be another rite of passage for some in our parliament: if they really want to be properly initiated, they need to have spoken about the CFMMEU, whether or not their day-to-day lives outside this place have anything to do with workplace relations or the construction industry.

This contrasts with the approach taken by the government at the recent Jobs and Skills Summit and by the industry itself. In recent months, in both national and regional forums, employers and unions have come together with government to address common challenges. The grown-ups in the room want to engage in constructive and cooperative politics. The time for the politics of polarisation is over.

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