FED: Oppn will oppose abolition of ABCC 'every step of the way'

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2009
FED: Oppn will oppose abolition of ABCC 'every step of the way'

By Julian Drape and Crystal Ja

CANBERRA, Aug 13 AAP - The federal coalition has vowed to oppose Labor's plan to abolish
the controversial construction industry watchdog "every step of the way".

The Rudd government wants to replace the Australian Building and Construction Commission
(ABCC) - a creation of the previous Howard government - with an industry inspectorate
within Fair Work Australia from February next year.

But opposition workplace relations spokesman Michael Keenan says the coalition will
try to block the legislation setting up the inspectorate.

It means Labor will have to bring the Australian Greens and independents Nick Xenophon
and Steve Fielding onside to get it through the Senate.

"This bill abolishes the body that ensures that in the building and construction industry
law and order is enforced," Mr Keenan told parliament.

"The opposition will be opposing this legislation at every step of the way because
every Australian employer and every Australian employee deserves to be able to go to work
... in a culture free of lawlessness and thuggery."

Mr Keenan said the Fair Work Australia inspectorate was a "toothless tiger" that couldn't
deal with militant construction union.

The industry had a culture similar to organised crime, where serial thuggery and lawlessness
ruled, he said.

"It's been plagued by strikes, assaults, bribes, intimidation, trespass, vandalism,
sabotage, threats, coercion, boycotts, blackmail, stalking, collision, wilful damage.

You name it and this industry has it."

But Labor backbencher Jon Sullivan says Labor would welcome another fight on industrial
relations.

The coalition's unpopular Work Choices regime was widely seen as contributing to the
2007 election loss.

"If you want to take us on over industrial relations in this community, you feel free,
take us on," Mr Sullivan said.

The Queensland MP also argued the ABCC hadn't resulted in safer workplaces.

Since it was introduced in late 2005 there'd been more deaths on construction sites, he said.

There were 18 fatalities nationally in 2004/05, 25 in 2005/06, 28 the following year
and 36 in 2007/08.

The bill would also seek to strip the ABCC of its "draconian" powers forcing workers
to disclose information, which Labor MP Shayne Neumann claimed overrode national terror
laws.

"The ABCC was given extraordinary powers in an industrial context which were not even
given to police to investigate major crimes," he said.

"There are no safeguards, warrants are not there."

But Liberal backbencher Jamie Briggs said workers who had done no wrong had nothing
to fear from the ABCC.

The government's proposed changes were about pandering to "union bosses, not workers
on the ground", he said.

Debate on the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition
to Fair Work) Bill continues.

AAP jcd/cj/dep

KEYWORD: BUILDING

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