Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

The government is determined to reintroduce the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which has been delayed by yet another Senate tactic by the Labor-Greens alliance.

Restoration of the ABCC is absolutely critical to address the problems of corruption and standover tactics which have now been revealed, chapter and verse, in the gush of revelations by the ABC and Fairfax Media and whistleblowers.

I am reminded of a photograph, which I table, of a bikie gang sergeant-at-arms marching in the infamous anti-Grocon rally in Melbourne wearing his CFMEU jacket over his Comanchero t-shirt. The person he was walking next to in this picture was the Victorian assistant secretary of the CFMEU. That was the dispute where police officers were bashed, and workers at the site—CFMEU members—took out an advertisement against their own union bosses, seeking protection. And Mr Shorten? Deathly silent. Instead of intervening to condemn, he was silent. When the Victorian CFMEU and the Comancheros were making house visits to builders, Mr Shorten was again completely silent. Even worse, the next thing Mr Shorten did as minister for workplace relations was to legislate to expand the right of entry of these types of people onto construction sites.

The best way to deal with thuggery, intimidation and violence on building sites is by re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission, a matter for which we have a very clear mandate from the Australian people.