Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, I can assure you that this government takes workplace conduct, whether it be of workers, businesses or unions, very seriously. That's why, under the system that we're proposing, the Fair Work Ombudsman will have a range of powers to take action where that's warranted.

Our fundamental point is that we don't think that different workers should be treated differently. We should have one regulator of conduct on worksites, and that is the Fair Work Ombudsman. We don't need an additional body for one industry that pursues workers and unions and leaves employers alone when we all know that in the building industry there are rogue employers as well. The ABCC never did anything about that. It did very little to recover underpayments to workers. That's a very serious issue. We think the Fair Work Ombudsman is the appropriate place to do that work.