ABCC Abolition will hurt Townsville Economy
Federal Herbert MP Phillip Thompson says the Labor Government’s plan to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) will hurt the Townsville economy.
Mr Thompson said the ABCC had been instrumental in fighting against union bullying and thuggery, including during the construction of the North Queensland Stadium in 2019 which caused work stoppages.
The CFMMEU was fined nearly $200,000 for organising unlawful industrial action on the site and trying to coerce workers into entering a building enterprise agreement with the Union.
“We know the CFMMEU and its officials have been exposed for disgusting treatment of workers on worksites,” Mr Thompson said.
“The Labor Party should be ashamed of its plans to abolish the ABCC, because the ABCC has done some very good work, calling out and prosecuting the very kind of behaviour Labor continually highlights as needing to be removed from our society, not to mention the unnecessary delays that illegal work stoppages place on important projects in our region.
“In Townsville we had a situation where four CFMMEU officials visited the stadium site, spoke to a group of workers while holding a copy of the CFMMEU template enterprise agreement, saying words to the effect, “You need to make your bosses sign this.”
“The union was fined almost $200,000 for unlawful industrial action, with the Federal Court Justice labelling it “coercion”, “disgraceful”, “shameful”, “deplorable” and “dismal”. Taxpayers footed the bill for a $50M cost blowout.
“We shouldn’t have workers turning up to sites in fear of being coerced and bullied.”
Mr Thompson also said illegal activity and delays on job sites, combined with industry challenges around supply and workforce, could increase building costs for the people of Townsville.
“In these times of increasing interest rates, increasing cost of living and increased material costs we can’t be adding even more costs to this industry,” he said.
“If you strip the industry of the protections that the ABCC brings, we’ll see more stop-works and costly unlawful industrial action.
“That extra cost will be passed on to the people of Townsville who are building or renovating their homes or businesses.”
Master Builders CEO Denita Wawn has previously said the ABCC played an important role in protecting workers from union bullies.
“Every day on building sites, construction unions threaten with tactics that cause disruption and stoppages to projects. This undermines the productivity of the industry when the economy can least afford it,” she said in February 2021.
“Construction activity is driving the economic recovery in communities around the country. We cannot allow the activities of construction union bullies to put that at risk.
“Labor’s policy to abolish the ABCC will put economic recovery at risk.”
ENDS