Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner has announced hearings for an inquiry into so-called ‘sham’ contracting in the construction industry. But, given the response by unions and the approach that this government has taken to industrial relations, it is the Labor Party that is the real sham. The Labor Party is committed to rolling back workplace relations reform and reintroducing regulation that predates even the Hawke-Keating reforms. This greatly concerns my constituents in Higgins. The latest ploy by the government and unions is to force subcontractors to become employees under the definition of the Fair Work Act and to be subject to the same regulations as though they were directly employed by a business.

The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner is launching an investigation into the so-called sham contractors after reports that a small number of migrant workers were alleged to have worked without being covered by certain entitlements available to non-contracted workers. Curiously, despite the investigation being held at the instigation of the unions, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union is refusing to participate in the inquiry, claiming that the ABCC has not acted soon enough.

The investigation comes as the Federal Court has imposed $170,000 in penalties on the CFMEU and nine of its officials after they admitted to unlawful industrial activity and coercion. The ABCC has also recently accused the CFMEU of breaching right-of-entry provisions, with one union official alleged to have entered a work site, threatening to shut it down and deliberately obstructing work.

These sorts of cases occur regularly in the construction industry, which has developed a notorious reputation for violence and intimidation. Most of this unlawful activity the ABCC cannot control, but Labor’s watering down of the ABCC’s powers will make it even harder for it to put a stop to these abuses.

What we are seeing now is the result of a watered-down ABCC that has been reduced to a political tool for the Australian Labor Party in government. The crackdown on so-called sham contractors could very easily lead to genuine contractors being subjected to regulations which force them out of business.

The aim of the unions is to undermine the legitimacy of independent contractors by deliberately confusing the term ‘sham contractor’. A contractor who performs work that could possibly be done by an employee is not a sham contractor, nor is a contractor who is employed for a significant period of time with a business. If the unions get their way with this inquiry, legitimate small business men and women will be stifled. The productivity gains made in the construction industry under the coalition government will be eaten away. If independent contractors, who are responsible for their own businesses and do not want the government to push them into the hands of the unions, are prevented from offering their services, then we can expect a return to the low productivity that plagued the industry before there was a cop on the beat.

To get an idea of how the CFMEU operates, you can take a look at their rostered-days-off calendar for 2011, which I will speak of another time.