Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How does small business contribute to Australia's building and construction sector? What is this government doing to tackle the corruption and lawlessness in the building industry that hurts small family businesses and pushes up costs and prices for hardworking Australians?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Boothby for her question. As a good member from South Australia she knows that there are 20,643 small construction businesses in South Australia. Across the country there are some 340,000 small construction businesses. Small construction businesses account for 70 per cent of employment in the construction industry. There are some 63,000 South Australians employed in the construction industry in that state. Their livelihoods and the businesses they are employed by are all negatively impacted by the lawlessness in the building and construction industry, which can be remedied by the reintroduction of the Australian Building and Construction Commission—which is opposed by those opposite. They are affected by the CFMEU and those other unions who seek to run these businesses off site and to run them out of business. That is what the design has been of the CFMEU and their counterparts.

The member will be interested to know that, in April this year, the Federal Court issued orders penalising the CFMEU and 15 of its officials with a total of $937,100 in relation to seven cases stemming from unlawful conduct on building sites across Adelaide in 2014. This was initiated by Fair Work Building and Construction because of a spike in unlawful activity on South Australian construction sites that affected 26 projects. Nineteen of those officials affected had flown in from other states to wreak their havoc in South Australia, importing their poison from those states into South Australia. One of the issues raised in this case was at Flinders University, where CFMEU officials were found to have threatened to cause major disruptions unless the CFMEU flag was flown from the crane hook! They were prepared to shut down sites for that level of vanity.

Those opposite oppose these laws; they oppose them being reintroduced. This has been a standing position of the Leader of the Opposition. It was back on Thursday, 19 September 2013, when he was running for the leadership—

Mr Pasin interjecting—

Mr Champion interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The members for Barker and Wakefield will cease interjecting.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

that the member for Gorton's brother wrote to him and said: 'Will you oppose the reintroduction of the ABCC by the Abbott government? That was on Thursday, 19 September. In waiting for his response—he would have received the letter, I am sure, on Friday—he would have had this agonising weekend pacing up and down the building and going: 'Will I support the ABCC or not? What will I do, Chloe?' They would have been bringing him cups of tea to calm his nerves with the great pressure he was under! But on Monday morning he rushed into work— (Time expired)