Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I indicate that the opposition will be supporting the amendments moved by the member for Mackellar. I want to focus particularly on the amendments that she has moved that would have the impact of deleting from the bill the provisions currently within the bill that get rid of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

The problem with getting rid of the Australian Building and Construction Commission is that it effectively gives a green light to the notoriously militant CFMEU. This union is known for its track record of bullying, intimidation and lawlessness. This has been commented on by numerous Federal Court judges. It's very clear that the leadership of the CFMEU regards fines and convictions as simply the cost of doing business. And the evidence is very clear; we've had prior experience of what happens when the ABCC is abolished by a government at the behest of the CFMEU, because Labor's done this before. Labor has got form here.

When Labor last abolished the Australian Building and Construction Commission, two-thirds of working days lost to industrial action were in the construction industry, and the average rate of industrial action was nearly five times the average in every other industry. In turn, this caused the rate of disputes in the construction sector to increase by 46 per cent, compared with a 31 per cent decline across all other industries. The regrettable fact is that, thanks to the extraordinary amount of working days lost due to industrial action at building sites, necessary infrastructure for our communities, like schools and hospitals, cost taxpayers up to 30 per cent more—because of the disgraceful conduct of the CFMEU.

Don't take my word for it; look at the courts. In recent years, what decisions have the courts made as to the conduct of the CFMEU? The CFMEU has been found guilty by the courts of breaching industrial law on projects across Australia: offices, apartments, shopping centres, hospitals, children's hospitals, universities, schools, roads, airports, stadiums, hotels, medical research facilities, social housing and many other important community facilities. The CFMEU doesn't care. They play their games on all of these sites and others. The record of experience is clear: the Australian Building and Construction Commission has been an effective check on the excesses and the militancy of the CFMEU and on the damage that they do across the economy.

The removal of the ABCC is a retrograde step, it's a very bad move and it is something that the coalition opposes. That is a key reason why we're supporting the amendments moved by the member for Mackellar. Of course, we've also seen that the CFMEU has a disgraceful track record of targeting women on construction sites with sexist slurs and physical threats.

The consequence of the provision in the bill that would remove the Australian Building and Construction Commission is that it would essentially leave businesses and workers in the construction sector across Australia completely exposed to the unlawful conduct, the thuggish and violent conduct, of the CFMEU. That was the fundamental policy purpose of the previous coalition government in establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission. It worked effectively to reduce disputation on construction sites around the country.

There are flow-on consequences across the economy, because construction, as the member for Mackellar has rightly said, is such a significant employer. It employs a large percentage of Australians—many small businesses, many subcontractors. The removal of the ABCC is very, very bad news for the sector and those who work in it. It's very, very bad news for our broader economy, and that is why the opposition itself moved an amendment to remove these provisions. That was unsuccessful. For the same reason, we are certainly pleased to be supporting the amendments moved by the member for Mackellar, because the removal of the ABCC is a very bad step indeed.

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