Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The amendments will give effect to a number of changes that will ensure the impartiality of the ABCC and the commissioner of the Building and Construction Commission. They will make changes relating to establishing the burden of proof for the work health and safety exception, consistent with the Fair Work Act. The amended bill will require the ABCC to outline, in its annual report, details of activity taken against employers and require that a report be provided quarterly to the minister. It will establish a security-of-payment working group to oversee the functions of the commissioner. It will retain the current legislative provision where a compulsory examination notice can only be issued by a nominated presidential member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. It will apply a judicial review under the AD(JR) Act to administrative decisions made under the bill. And, up until 29 November 2018, it will allow building industry participants whose enterprise agreements are not Building Code compliant to tender for and be awarded Commonwealth-funded building contracts.

This Building and Construction Commission bill is a vital economic reform, as honourable members have heard earlier today in the House. It is a vital economic reform to restore the rule of law to the construction sector, which employs over a million Australians and involves 300,000 small businesses. It is eight per cent of GDP. This has been a hard-fought reform which the opposition have resisted for many, many years. We have secured the support of the Senate, subject to the amendments—moved by the crossbench—that have been described and have been returned to the House from the Senate. I thank the Senate for its consideration of the bill. I thank the crossbench for their contribution to the debate and their contribution to the amendments. I commend the bill to the House.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the opposition to reflect on the amendments that have been moved in the Senate. The fact is that this bill is nothing like the bill that was put to the Australian people in the double dissolution election. This is a fundamentally different bill. It would have been easier for the government just to amend the title of the Fair Work building commission and just call it the ABCC, because the very significant amendments that were moved and accepted in the Senate have altered, fundamentally, this regulator, and I will go to some of those, if I may.

Firstly, the government backflipped on the reverse onus on workers to raise health and safety matters. They backflipped on judicial review. They backflipped on the oversight required for coercive powers to be used. And indeed they backflipped to some extent on retrospectivity for the industry in relation to how the Building Code will apply.

Of course this does not go to the Building Code. The instrument that has yet to be issued by the minister will lie on the table in the Senate, and Labor will be seeking to disallow that instrument because that instrument fundamentally changes the working conditions of construction workers. It is, in many respects, Work Choices coming into the building industry. And that is why we will be opposing it.

But, as for the regulator, of course the biggest furphy in this debate was that this was about fighting crime. This is a civil regulator. It is not a crime-fighting agency. If there is crime in the building industry, or the banking industry or any industry, we would want crime-fighting agencies to deal with those issues. This is a civil regulator.

We cannot support the bill, amended or otherwise, because it fundamentally offends the values of Labor. It removes entitlements: the right to silence and the right to have a lawyer. There are fundamental issues that are still of concern to Labor. But the subtext of this debate—the real motive of this government—has always been about cutting the conditions of employment of construction workers in this country.

There are now two sets of employment conditions in the construction sector. There are those conditions that apply to enterprise agreements that were entered into prior to the introduction of this bill, and there will be a new set of conditions of employment for any subsequent enterprise agreement entered into by employers and their workforce and unions. Mark my words: this will create instability and uncertainty in the construction sector. There will be two sets of rules for different employers.

Also, I have been made aware that many employers feel very let down by the Prime Minister conceding on these amendments. In fact, those companies who have yet to enter into agreements with the union are very disappointed that the Prime Minister and the government backslid and backflipped their way to this result. And, for that reason, this bill is of such a different character from the bill that was put before the Australian people during the double dissolution election.

Whatever we might say of the Prime Minister's predecessor, Tony Abbott, there is no way that Tony Abbott would have actually supported—

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

The member will refer to members by their correct titles.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed, Mr Speaker. The member for Warringah would have never acceded to these concessions. And, by the way, while I am at it, neither would have the former minister for employment, Senator Abetz. They would not have accepted these concessions.

The reality is: the reason why the government backflipped on these matters and changed, fundamentally, the character of the bill—and, indeed, the character of the regulator—is because this has always been about one job, and that is the Prime Minister's job. He has to pass something through the Senate. And, as a result, he has caved in on one matter after the other. We watched it last night, and we watched it this morning. In relation to—

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

The member for Gorton will resume his seat. His time has expired.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In relation—

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

Your time has expired.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If I may finish, Mr Speaker?

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

The member for Gorton.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks very much, Mr Speaker.

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, I'm up now. The issue here—

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

The member for Gorton will resume his seat. The Leader of the House.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the motion be put.

Question agreed to.

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

The question now is that the amendments be agreed to.

Question agreed to.