Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mackellar for his question. Those opposite seem as excited about the topic as we are. It is important that we restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission to improve productivity, improve growth and improve job prospects for those working in the construction industry because we know that the illegal and militant behaviour of unions on construction and building sites is costing Australians jobs, it is costing them better wages and it is costing this country the increased investment that supports the growth of our economy more broadly. We know that Master Builders Australia estimates that the increase in construction costs on schools or hospitals or other important taxpayer funded projects such as roads and so on increases the cost by some 30 per cent.

You would think that the CFMEU and others would at least put aside one particular type of site as being free of the sort of illegal and coercive behaviour that has been found by the Fair Work Commission. You would think that a project run by Common Ground in Brisbane—a project of 146 apartments funded by taxpayers to deal with long-term homelessness—would be exempted from the sort of thuggery that we have seen from the CFMEU, which the Leader of the Opposition describes as 'the side of the angels'.

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