CFMEU TV ad claims ice addicts have more rights than workers under ABCC

A television ad paid for by the construction union claims ice addicts have more rights than workers under the ABCC.

A dramatic television advertisement paid for by the construction union will air on prime-time television for four days, claiming ice addicts have more rights than construction workers under the Coalition’s building industry watchdog.

The 30-second spot premiered last night during My Kitchen Rules and 60 Minutes, and will be broadcast around the nation during the evening news on Seven, Nine and Ten as part of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union’s campaign against the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

The emotive ad, created by Labor advertising guru Bill Shannon, is timed to coincide with debate in both houses of arliament this week on the Coalition’s bill to reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner, which Malcolm Turnbull has said will result in a double-dissolution election if the government loses the vote.

The ad features an actor who portrays an ice dealer apparently in a holding cell. He is told he has “the right to remain silent and you have the right to a lawyer of your choice”.

It then cuts to an older construction worker in the same position who is instead told “you don’t have the right to remain silent and you don’t have the right to a lawyer of your choice”.

It ends with the statement: “If Malcolm Turnbull gets his way, a worker will have less rights than an ice dealer.”

The advertisement is authorised by CFMEU national secretary Michael O’Connor.

Construction union national secretary Dave Noonan said the ad seeks to “inform Australians of the true nature of the ABCC bill”.

Mr Noonan said the Prime Minister had called the election over “a lie”.

“The laws can compel workers to give evidence and be interviewed, while stripping them of their right to silence and representation of a lawyer of their choice,” he said.

“People who have committed serious crimes such as an accused ice dealer have more rights than workers in the construction industry.”

The government has said the ABCC rules were in line with compulsory powers under other statutory agencies.

However, Mr Noonan said the ABCC was “nothing like ASIC (or) the ACCC, neither of those are nakedly political organisations which target one section of the community”.

Senator Michaelia Cash branded the CFMEU’s campaign against the ABCC “full of misrepresentations and exaggeration on the provision of the ABCC legislation”.

“The CFMEU is desperate to deflect attention away from its appalling history of breaching workplace laws,” she said.

“The CFMEU will obviously do and say anything to stop there being a strong cop on the beat.”

She said the number of CFMEU officials before the courts showed laws “are not strong enough to prevent unlawful industrial behaviour in Australia’s crucial building and construction sector.”

“No one should be able to continue breaking industrial laws without consequence,” she added.

Additional reporting: Jennine Khalik