Anthony Albanese would scrap ABCC watchdog

Federal Labor leader is set to flag sweeping industrial reforms if his party wins power, including scrapping a building watchdog responsible for cracking down on the CFMEU.

The construction watchdog which has cracked down on the militant CFMEU would be abolished, under sweeping changes to be proposed by Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.

Businesses would have to put contract workers on permanently after two years and give casual workers annual leave.

The bold plan will put Labor on a collision course with business and the construction industry, in what could be an election year.

Mr Albanese will seek to reframe any election to be about insecure work, rather than a “referendum on the coronavirus pandemic”.

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will announce his industrial relations plan this week. Picture: Stuart Fast

Mr Albanese will deliver the speech in Brisbane in what will be the centrepiece of his Queensland blitz.

The building and construction watchdog the Australian Building Construction Commission, as well as the Registered Organisations Commission, would be scrapped with Mr Albanese declaring them “discredited and politicised”.

Queensland has frequently been a hotspot for unlawful industrial activity.

The ABCC has prosecuted 72 cases, with penalties imposed of $11.9m since it was ­recreated in December 2016. Of those, 62 cases and $10.7m in penalties were against the CFMEU.

Former leader Bill Shorten took the same policy to the 2019 poll, but Labor had until now declined to say if it would keep the plan.

His speech will include an eight-point plan for industrial relations as the party calls on the ghost of WorkChoices in Mr Albanese’s “Secure Australian Jobs Plan”.

There will also been a bonus for public servants, who will find it easier to secure permanent positions from an audit of “inappropriate temporary contracts” in government.

Mr Albanese will say there needs to be a new compact between government, business and unions, while “respecting business as job creators”.

He said a Labor Government would work with state governments to develop “portable entitlements” for casual workers and those in the gig economy like Uber drivers, allowing annual leave, sick leave and long-service leave to transfer between jobs.

Construction watchdog the ABCC, which has taken on the CFMEU over industrial law breaches, would be abolished by Labor. Picture: Annette Dew

Labor would also legislate fixed-term limits for rolling contracts so workers would have to be put on permanently after 24 months or two contracts.

Mr Albanese said the policies were aimed at helping almost a third of workers in jobs with varying hours and pay, with “few or no protections”.

“For millions of Australians, the essential prerequisite to raising a family, buying a home and building a future, is a good, secure job and enough super to retire comfortably,” he will say.

“Not being forced into a casual job – but good, permanent work that comes with protections such as sick leave, family leave, annual leave and penalty rates. Scott Morrison doesn’t get this. But I do.”