Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. The government's Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026 would allow the Commonwealth to legally discriminate against businesses without an enterprise agreement or those without a union named. But a not dissimilar scheme in Victoria was found by the Watson report to have been used and weaponised by the CFMEU, costing taxpayers billions and supporting organised crime. My question is: how can these provisions be a good idea from the point of view of either preventing corruption or getting value for money for government spending?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for her question. I will go through a couple of elements of her question. Firstly, I would say that our reforms in the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026 will allow Commonwealth government spending to support secure jobs and fair working conditions by preferencing enterprise agreements negotiated in good faith and genuinely agreed to, where it is appropriate to do so. Enterprise agreements are a transparent and effective way of delivering secure jobs and fair conditions for workers, as well as flexibility and productivity for employers. Importantly, the bill does not impose any obligations on the Commonwealth to do anything, such as require an enterprise agreement.

When it comes to construction, though, there has been no government that has taken more action to stamp out corruption in the construction industry than this government. In recognition of that, as we develop our secure jobs code, we have recognised that a different approach is required in construction. That is why, at the same time as I announced this bill, I also announced the construction code consultation that will clearly outline what good behaviour looks like when we, as the Commonwealth, procure in the construction industry.

I have to say we are doing a lot of diligent work. We are working through the National Construction Industry Forum, which is a tripartite forum. Our government has taken tripartism very seriously. We are not shutting out employers. We're not shutting out unions. We are bringing people together. That is why the bill is called the cooperative workplaces bill. This is very important, and no other government, as I said, has taken this issue as seriously as we have. I'm happy to work with the member in the future to make sure we get those good outcomes that workers deserve, that taxpayers deserve and that we will work towards.