Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

It is the current Leader of the Opposition and the Australian Labor Party who have made it very, very clear that if they are ever elected to office again in this country the first thing they will do is abolish the ABCC and hand over the building and construction sector to the CFMEU. So to all of those mum and dad subcontractors out there, to all of those small and medium businesses, which we on this side of the chamber will back every single day of the week: be very, very careful, because the jobs that you have will be gone under those on the other side.

In 2012, when the ABCC was first abolished, what happened to disputes in the construction sector? They increased against the national average, which was decreasing. What happened to the cost of national infrastructure? It increased by up to 30 per cent. What's more, the fines against the CFMEU were substantially reduced, making them merely the cost of doing business. (Time expired)