Our industry faces some big issues - a poor safety record, underinvestment in apprentices and training, divisive industrial relations issues.

While resources construction has returned to boom times, commercial construction was hit for six by the GFC and despite some recovery activity remains weak. The Building the Education Revolution (BER) projects have injected $16.2 billion into building construction. It’s been the salvation of the commercial industry - Without those billions we would have seen more jobs lost, profits slashed and less apprentices started and maintained.

This program has been the subject of a massive public attack by the media - in particular ‘The Australian’ newspaper. No effort has been spared in an effort to portray the program as a massive waste of taxpayers’ money on par with the bungled insulation program.

Of course the industry should face scrutiny from the media and the parliament. There have been powerful voices calling for the scrapping of the program - not surprising from the opposition, from conservative economists or from a newspaper which is hostile to the Rudd Government.

What is disappointing has been the deafening silence from the industry.

Industry leaders have failed to challenge the proposition that the industry has systematically rorted the taxpayer. This failure to stand up for the industry follows the trashing of the industry’s productivity record by politicians, snake oil economists, flat earth think tanks and sadly, some of these same industry leaders.

We have one of the most productive industries in the world, but in their eagerness to argue in favour of the ABCC and the undemocratic laws that it enforces, the MBA and other industry leaders have talked the industry down.

How do we expect to attract investment into our industry if its leaders say little or nothing in its defence?

Is the public entitled to assume the criticism is correct?

If so, the BER does not deserve support and should be scrapped - and no private investor in their right mind should go near our industry.

If not lets stand up for the industry and make the case that the industry is one worthy of public and private sector investment.

Those who work in the industry, who know the industry, must defend it and advocate it - the union stands ready to do so, but we need employer voices to speak up too.

That’s not to say we haven’t got some problems. The biggest is the fact that we continue to see workers die on the job. We all know the saying that every worker who goes to work in the morning should go home that night, but too often it is just a cliché.

The union will continue to take a hard line on safety - but we want to work with industry to make a difference.

We also need to address the rip off of workers entitlements and of the taxpayer by companies which engage in phoenix activities and in bogus contracting.

The ABCC have condoned these activities by turning a blind eye to them and other government agencies have been ineffective. Our industry should step up and take steps to address these corrupt and destructive activities.

There are some other important matters I don’t have time to discuss fully. They include the need to address the failure to train apprentices, and the need to retain experienced mature age workers - the people who have decades of knowledge and skill, but who find it harder to get work as they get older.

I also believe our industry needs to get on the front foot on the climate change issue. New office blocks are now achieving five and six star energy ratings. That’s good, but what about retrofitting? Our industry needs to consider how we can convince government that policy settings should support a massive program to upgrade existing commercial property to reduce carbon emissions.

Another policy matter we should consider is how we can enhance the investment of Australia’s $1 trillion of superannuation in infrastructure - currently the structures and policy settings do not encourage this

In conclusion a few words about the ABCC.

Our position is well known on these laws. We support equality before the law for all Australian workers and we do not support the use of coercive powers. We find it unacceptable that a construction worker faces imprisonment for following his conscience and refusing to act as an informant against his workmates.

If Ark Tribe is jailed, there will be a reaction from construction workers.

The government’s legislation to replace the ABCC is currently sitting in the senate. It is not clear if the bill will be reintroduced before the election which will take place this year. We do know that the coalition and Senator Fielding have vowed to block the legislation, despite the government having clearly flagged its intentions on this issue before the last election.

My union, along with all of the construction unions and the ACTU has been critical of the bill. We believe that it retains parts of the existing regime which are fundamentally unacceptable. Nevertheless, the Government does have a mandate for change on this issue- It was clearly the policy they took to the last election - to abolish the ABCC, but to maintain an industry regulator. To pretend, as the Master Builders Association have been that the Rudd Government has no mandate is not only false; it is so demonstrably false as to be truly bizarre.

If Rudd is re-elected, and the Greens control the Senate, it is likely that legislation to abolish the ABCC will pass.  We will continue to fight for legislation which provides equality before the law for all Australian workers.

I thank the Australian Industry Group for the invitation to talk to you today and look forward to the opportunity to engage constructively with the organisation and its members as we continue to build this nation together.

Dave Noonan

National Secretary

CFMEU Construction & General