David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Housing, and it concerns her government's decision to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Master Builders Australia have told a Senate inquiry that the government's decision to abolish the ABCC will exacerbate supply-side pressures in the residential construction industry. How can the minister possibly deliver her promised one million new affordable homes when the government has declared war on the building industry?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going to hear from the Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was going to answer the question. It's directed to me. It's an IR question.

Opposition members interjecting—

Everything there turns on the abolition of the ABCC. Everything in the question turns on the abolition of the ABCC, and I've been trying to get a question from them. If you think Jim's having a hard time—

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the House will resume his seat. Order! The Manager of Opposition Business.

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

Mr Speaker, it was a question on housing to the Minister for Housing, and if the government doesn't believe that the Minister for Housing is up to answering the question then that raises some very serious questions.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order. The question was in two parts, about the ABCC. I give the call to the Leader of the House.

Opposition members interjecting—

The Leader of the House will resume his seat. I'll hear from the Leader of the Opposition.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I'm sorry to be at odds with you, but, just in relation to your ruling, this question goes to, yes, the ABCC—that's a fair point. But the substance—

I'm being reasonable. But, Mr Speaker, the substance of the question goes—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister for infrastructure will cease interjecting. I want to hear from the Leader of the Opposition in silence.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The substance of the question goes to: how can the minister—in direct reference to the Minister for Housing—possibly deliver her promised one million new affordable homes when this government has declared war on the building industry? It is not within the remit of the minister for industrial relations to have any capacity to answer that question, which has been directed deliberately to the Minister for Housing, and I don't believe that there could be a ruling to that effect. I'd ask you to reflect on what it is you've described. You might ask the Minister for Housing to provide an answer, and then perhaps the minister for industrial relations could mop it up—whatever it is. But it can't stand that she's not responsible for housing.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition has made his point. The question is in two parts. I'll allow the minister to answer the first part and the leader if he wishes to address the second part.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the member opposite for the question in relation to the Housing Accord. The Housing Accord is a really important piece of policy. This is the first time we've had three tiers of government agree to actually head in the same direction when it comes to housing in Australia. This is about getting all three tiers of government on the same page. It's about the industry and the sector. The Master Builders association were, of course, a part of the accord and agreed to the accord, as did other parts of the industry and the sector, including superannuation funds. This is about bringing people together. This is about seriously dealing with housing affordability and the low supply. We need more stock of housing in this country, and the accord is a ground-breaking once-in-a-generation piece of agreement—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will cease interjecting.

Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to actually implement this and to build a million homes from 2024 to 2029. The Master Builders association agreed with this, and they've signed up to it, and they're part of the accord.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give the call to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks so much, Mr Speaker. I'll tell you what residential housing didn't need. I am yet to see a residential house that wasn't built because there was a union sticker in the corner of a safety sign. I am yet to see a home that couldn't be built because of the flag that was flying at a site. I am yet to see any relevance of the obsessions of the ABCC to whether or not someone's home gets built.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my left will cease interjecting.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Have a look. Have a listen to what Federal Court judges had to say about the ABCC. They were blasted for prosecuting union officials for 'having a cup of tea with a mate'. Apparently those opposite think that's the enemy of residential housing—described as a miniscule, insignificant affair; described as a battleship in full steam that treated proceedings as a blood sport.

That's what the ABCC delivered. It was a rotten regulator. It was a regular not there to deal with the issues that the Fair Work Ombudsman would deal with. The way you can tell is that whatever they ask a question about the ABCC, never once do they refer to any of the things that only the ABCC could deal with. So they want to talk about criminal matters, which the ABCC couldn't deal with, or they want to talk about bullying matters or right of entry matters, which were the province of the Fair Work Ombudsman anyway. All the examples that they give don't stack up to a regulator that was meant to be politicised from the beginning; that was there about a fight that those opposite were engaging because they had one objective: put people in their corners. It was their method of governing, not only in industrial relations. That's what the ABCC did, and I'll be pleased to see it gone.