The community and small business stand to win from ABCC

Communities around Australia will be the big winners from bringing back the ABCC to tackle the construction unions’ entrenched culture of thuggery and unlawfulness that adds to the cost of construction.

“The other winners will be the many ‘mum and dad’ small businesses who are bullied on a daily basis and whose livelihoods are threatened if they dare challenge the bullying unions,” Wilhelm Harnisch CEO of Master Builders Australia said.

“Master Builders Australia strongly welcomes the Government’s focus on re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC),” he said.

“The hard fact that the unions don’t want to hear is the way their behavior means schools, roads and hospitals cost up to 30 per cent more,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“What the building unions don’t want to hear is how they effectively punish the community by imposing a building union tax which deprives them of more classrooms, hospital beds and roads,” he said.

“The building unions are out of touch with their community and have no concern for the mums and dads and families of Australia who pay the price for their unlawful and unproductive behaviours,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“Every day on building sites more than 340,000 small building firms are bullied by construction union thugs and are prevented from earning a living and employing people if they do not kowtow to union demands. These small firms lack the resources to mount defensive legal action and need the strong powers of the ABCC to protect them,” he said.

“Bringing back the ABCC will take off the shackles of building union thuggery and charge up the productivity of the nation’s construction sector so it can play an even greater role in generating prosperity and jobs,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“The Heydon Royal Commission conclusively showed the toxic culture of the building unions has become institutionalised and where they believe they are above the law,” he said.

“Since the abolition of the ABCC by the previous Labor Government, union bullying and days lost to industrial action have skyrocketed while productivity has fallen. The economy simply cannot afford the nation’s third largest industry to be dragged down by building unions who are out of step with the community,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“The Turnbull Government has an undeniable mandate for bringing back the ABCC. It was the very reason for calling double dissolution election,” he said.

“The new Parliament now has the opportunity and indeed has the obligation to set matters right and bring back the ABCC. Master Builders urges Members and Senators to stand up for their communities and back the Government’s ABCC bills,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.