Lobby makes Labor the target in ‘building seats’, marginals

Nine of the top 10 seats with construction workers and business owners are held by the Liberal Party.

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie’s seat of Canning is one of the top 10 seats with the highest number of construction workers and business owners.

The nation’s peak building lobby will target marginal seats with a high proportion of construction workers as it kicks off its election campaign against Labor’s plans for negative gearing and its links with the militant construction union.

The Master Builders Association will target “building seats” as part of its campaign, which will also be rolled out in newspapers and pay-TV channels.

Figures provided by the builders lobby shows nine of the top 10 seats with construction workers and business owners are held by the Liberal Party. Health Minister Greg Hunt’s seat of Flinders leads the pack: 14.5 per cent of its workforce is in the building industry.

Marginal electorates are also in the top 10, including Attorney-General Christian Porter’s seat of Pearce, Liberal MP Andrew Hastie’s seat of Canning and Queensland’s Forde and Longman.

Residents in marginal seats will be hit with campaign materials ­opposing Labor’s proposed reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax. The material will also call for further tax relief for business and will advocate against Labor’s plan to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Registered Organisations Commission.

One television ad will say Labor is “wrong” to say its crackdown on negative gearing will increase new home construction.

The ad claims that under Labor’s plan, there would be 42,000 fewer homes built and 32,000 fewer jobs over a five-year period.

It also claimed there would be an $11.8 billion hit to the building industry. “Tell Labor to leave housing tax alone,” the ad says.

Another ad shows a union ­official bullying and threatening a construction worker for not being part of a union, claiming to be “based on actual events” as heard in Federal Court decisions.

“Bullying is not OK. It is not tolerated in the community but it keeps happening on construction sites,” the ad says.

“Don’t let the bullies win. Tell Labor to keep the Australian Building and Construction Commission.”