Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this ministerial statement regarding the Australian Building and Construction Commission. There's been a lot of hot air from the opposition from recent changes to the building code. Let's set aside all the rhetoric and look at what the minister's instrument actually does. It amends the building code to remove some of the most inappropriate and absurd provisions.

Let's start with 13(2)(j), one of the most ideological and ridiculous sections of regulation in Australian history. That section has been used by the ABCC to run hugely expensive High Court cases about flags and stickers. Let's start with the Eureka flag case, where the ABCC spent half a million dollars on a case to stop the Eureka flag from being displayed on a crane at a building site. Where do I even start on this one? How about the fact that the ABCC was prosecuting this case on behalf of no-one? There was no-one complaining to the ABCC about the Eureka flag being displayed. The developer of the site, Lendlease, was on the same side as the CFMMEU in this dispute. Either Lendlease didn't care about the flag or, more likely, actually recognised that the workers on the site have a little thing called freedom of speech.

So the ABCC spent half a billion dollars to obtain an ideological outcome that no-one—not the union, not the employers, not the workers—actually called for or supported. I think this is the very definition of a waste of money. And it doesn't stop there. The ABCC applies the same ridiculous section to other materials—for example, COVID-19 safety posters in break rooms on worksites. You might think that, during the pandemic, when construction sites were kept open to support our economy, the construction regulators would be focused on keeping workers safe. But, no, rather than support employers and unions to keep worksites COVID safe, the ABCC was investigating the COVID-19 safety posters in break rooms, not because there was any issue with the content of the poster, but because employer associations and union logos were both displayed in the bottom corner of the poster. It is just absurd that anyone can come to this building and say that. Just when we are fighting against COVID-19 safety posters. Just incredible. Half-a-million dollars on this nonsense. Then there's the women's bathrooms case. It's not enough to spend half-a-million dollars fighting about flags and stickers. Even by the standards of the former government, that's a colossal waste of money. So the ABCC is fiercely opposed to COVID-19 safety posters and to women's safety because they opposed and spent half a million dollars trying to stop a women's toilet being installed at a worksite in Melbourne—half a million dollars!

What else in this building code was struck out by this instrument? Let's look at the provision in the code that prevented employers and workers making agreements on a whole range of issues. For example, an agreement that contained clauses on matters dealing with safety—that's out; on clauses dealing with same job, same pay for labour hire workers—that's out; or clauses dealing with requirements for apprentices to be used onsite—that's out. Wow, what a surprise that we've got a problem with a lack of trained people, in this country, within the construction industry—because that's out; you can't train them, you can't come to an agreement; or clauses dealing with female participation in the workforce—that is out; or clauses dealing with sham contracting—of course, that's out.

The favourite thing is, they talk about labour productivity. The construction sector declined every year since the ABCC was established and before the pandemic. In 2017-18, the first full year of the ABCC, productivity was down 2.4 per cent. In 2018-19, productivity was down 2.6 per cent. And in 2019-20, productivity was down 2.6 per cent. Here's the real kicker. In the period between when the ABCC was abolished, by the former Labor government, and when it was re-established, productivity was actually better. Surprise, surprise, surprise! That's what happens when you interfere with the processes there. And, of course, when you see such things as sham contracting—no prosecution was done on sham contracting.

This was clearly an abuse of power and time by this previous government. It's laughable. Their incapacity to turn around and deal with wage theft and inappropriate payments that haven't been paid to workers is absolutely deplorable.