Passing ABCC, union bills makes economic and cultural sense

Today, the bills that were used as the trigger for our double dissolution election are due to come before the Senate.

Today, the bills that were used as the trigger for our double dissolution election are finally due to come before the Senate.

This was only the seventh double dissolution election in our history, which means both the bill on registered organisations and the bill on the Australian Building and Construction Commission are critical.

While there has been plenty of confusing misinformation about them, I can give three compelling reasons why there should be no debate about passing these bills.

First, the building and construction industry is rife with corruption, violence and threats. Justice Dyson Heydon concluded this in his royal commission. But more disturbingly, he said they weren’t new issues.

Four royal commissions in 40 years came to the same conclusion.

For those who wish to contend that this a witch-hunt, I simply say that I believe the evidence of four royal commissions.

So, we need the ABCC to rid the industry of corruption, violence and threats.

The second reason the bills should be passed is that, with more than a million employees, construction is our third largest employing industry.

In terms of its workforce, it has the lowest proportion of women at just 11 per cent, and I suggest part of this low participation is due to the culture.

It is also the largest employer of fulltime young people. There are more than 140,000 in the industry.

These million-plus workers need to be protected from poor behaviour, particularly violence and threats. I don’t think anyone should be exposed to this culture, particularly young people in their first full-time job.

I also believe the poor behaviour of a few people should not be allowed to disrupt the hard work of many.

So, we need the ABCC to protect workers, particularly young people, and encourage women into the sector.

The third reason the bills need to be passed is the contribution construction makes to the economy.

The industry is too important to let it continue with a culture that cannot be an optimum one for productivity or competitiveness.

It is the second-largest sector in terms of total industry output at 8.7 per cent, ahead of agriculture at 2.6 per cent, mining at 6.4 per cent, and manufacturing at 6.6 per cent.

Construction, unlike most sectors, isn’t as exposed to global competition so it doesn’t suffer the extent of competitive pressures other sectors do. This means there is greater scope to pass higher costs on to end users.

And those higher costs can be across the board because the construction industry touches most parts of our lives. The roads we drive on, the schools we send our children to, the hospitals we go to, and the offices we work in.

And many of those things are funded by the taxpayer. And we all know that, now, more than ever, we need government expenditure to deliver value for money.

The limited exposure to competition also means the construction industry faces less incentive to change its culture and restrictive practices.

Whether the ABCC will improve productivity and competitiveness is a topic of great debate and I don’t want to get into duelling statistics.

But can we please stop for a minute and apply some common sense?

I challenge anyone to demonstrate that a workplace or industry can be highly productive and competitive in the face of a culture of systemic bullying, intimidation, and physical and verbal violence.

I’m sure most workers have unfortunately experienced or witnessed bullying in some form or another in their working lives.

And I ask you to remember what that was like. Were you or the person being bullied at their best? Of course you weren’t. And people operating below their skills and abilities cannot possibly lead to a highly productive workplace or industry.

Our economy is struggling to grow and become more productive. By focusing on the culture of the industry, the ABCC can improve productivity with a flow-on impact to the economy.

So we need the ABCC to improve the industry’s productivity and competitiveness, and we need it to make sure prices are not inflated and passed on to consumers or government.

Our senators have a very simple proposition before them.

They can give workers the chance to enjoy their jobs. They can give consumers and government a chance of more efficient prices. And they can give the industry a chance to become more productive and high-performing.

Or they can reject the bills and be surprised when the fifth royal commission comes to the same conclusion as the past four.

Jennifer Westacott is the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia.