WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT COMMON SENSE PREVAILS AND FUTURE GOVERNMENTS OF ALL POLITICAL PERSUASIONS UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF A BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WHERE THE RULE OF LAW IS RESPECTED.
A MESSAGE FROM INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS DIRECTOR, CAMERON SPENCE
The future of the rule of law in the construction industry; looking back and forward A week is a long time in politics. It seems we can’t go a week without the news that yet another MP has fallen under the citizenship knife.
>> More than $2.14 million in penalties awarded in matters brought by the ABCC – the third time in the history of the agency and its predecessors that penalties exceeded $2 million. >> Significant penalties handed down for unlawful industrial action ($1.15 million) and coercion ($710,000). >> 28 proceedings finalised before the courts. >> 1 Building Code sanction.
Instability in an elected government is never a good thing, and one hopes that this problem is sorted out as quickly as possible. This instability has raised some important Industrial Relations questions, not least around the future of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC). Bill Shorten is on record as vowing to do away with the ABCC should he be elected Prime Minister. And a few more foreign passports could see us head to an early election, so in light of that, it is worth asking; “what exactly will Bill Shorten be dismantling?” Unless you’ve been living on Mars, you will recall that Australia went to a double dissolution election in 2016, sparked by the Turnbull government’s determination to reinstate the ABCC to help enforce the rule of law in the industry. After a cliff-hanger result and a bruising passage through the Senate, the ABCC was re-instated, and a new 2016 Code came into effect. Almost a year has passed since these events took centre stage. The ABCC has recently released its 2016/2017 annual report, so this is an ideal time to look at the ABCC’s achievements, and to revisit the question of the rule of law in the building and construction industry and to look to the future. The notable parts of the ABCC report can be briefly summarised as follows:
>> 142 new investigations commenced into suspected breaches of Commonwealth workplace laws. >> 871 enterprise agreements assessed for compliance with Building Code 2016. >> More than 10,000 industry participants reached through ABCC education activities – with 5,552 attendees at presentations delivered by agency staff and 5,882 enquiries responded to over the year. So much of the heat and smoke that initially surrounded this argument has just evaporated. No one has gone to jail, no one is being bullied or threatened. Instead, what we are seeing is a dedicated government agency going about the business of making sure that the rule of law is upheld in the building and construction industry without distinction as to who they need to deal with. In a nutshell the ABCC is bringing our industry into line with mining, education, aviation, agriculture, and every other major industry in this country in which the majority of stakeholders abide by the law the majority of the time. This is a good thing. We can only hope that common sense prevails and future governments of all political persuasions understand the importance of a building and construction industry where the rule of law is respected. It’s in everyone’s interests. Why would anyone want to change that?
MASTER BUILDERS ASSOCIATION NEWS EDITION 4 2017
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