Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

I have to say that I have been waiting for this question for the past week, wondering when Senator Fisher would actually raise it, because we did make the announcement well over a week ago. So I am very pleased to have the opportunity to present our policy. First of all—and I am sure Senator Fisher is aware of this—we are honouring an election commitment, an election commitment that was made when we were in opposition. We are getting the balance right: keeping a tough cop on the beat while at the same time protecting the legal rights of workers.

Can I say from the outset that the vast majority of building workers are hardworking and decent people. There are a small microcosm at work which are undertaking unlawful activities. The government finds these activities unacceptable. That is why we will maintain the tough cop on the beat. There has been a long process in coming to this point. It started with the policy but then we initiated the Wilcox report, which looked at the ABCC in detail and looked at its powers. It came back with a number of recommendations and the government is adopting the recommendations, abolishing the ABCC but replacing it with the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate.

One of our commitments was to put in place a switch-off power that actually rewards good behaviour in the industry. While I am sure the next question from Senator Fisher will say that it is a watering down, there will be an independent assessor who can switch the power on and switch it off. (Time expired)