Tony Burke confirms overhaul of ABCC powers

Tony Burke says the government will ‘pull back to the bare legal minimum’ the powers of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke said as of Tuesday, the powers of the ABCC would be “pulled back to the bare legal minimum”. Picture: AAP

Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke has confirmed Labor will overhaul the Australian Building and Construction Commission, as it signalled it would do ahead of winning the election.

Labor has been critical of the construction watchdog from its inception, criticising it as a politicised agency aimed at reining in the union movement.

Cases pursued by the ABCC include a move to ban the display of the Eureka flag on construction sites because they insinuated a call to join a union, which is not allowed under building code regulations.

Mr Burke said that, as of Tuesday, the powers of the ABCC would be “pulled back to the bare legal minimum”.

“A lot of what it’s been doing can appropriately be done by another regulator. Some of it goes to health and safety regulators, some of it goes to the Fair Work Ombudsman. And some of the things that the ABCC’s been doing, which I just think have been ridiculous rules are gone all together,” he said on ABC’s Insiders.

“So we will no longer be spending taxpayers money determining what sticker someone is allowed to put on their helmet, whether or not a safety sign has to be pulled down because it’s got a union logo in the bottom corner or what flag might be flying in a building site.”

It follows some concerns around the move to strip the ABCC of its powers raised by members of the crossbench, including ACT Independent Senator David Pocock, who warned against such a move being done for political reasons.