“The threshold for when they apply and when they don’t is not based on a security concern,” he said.
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“It’s based on, one, if you’re in construction, and two, a formula of the extent of the Commonwealth contribution relative to the value of the project, as if that’s somehow a safety net.
“Those kinds of rules, to make sure people are fit and ready to work, are just as important on a mining site as they are on a construction site.”
The country’s peak workers’ union, the ACTU, said Burke’s decision means “anti-worker” elements of the building code, established by the previous coalition government in 2016, will finally be scrapped.
“The code was one of the ideological projects of the previous government, which spent almost a decade attacking unions and suppressing wages,” ACTU secretary Sally McManus said on Sunday.
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“It halted progress in apprenticeships and skills in the construction industry and did nothing to address safety or wage theft.”
Labor will defund the ABCC, a watchdog it sees as highly politicized for its persistent pursuit of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union. It has pledged to abolish the body but, as a statutory authority, its removal must be legislated for.
Innes Willox, chief executive of employers’ association Ai Group, said stripping the ABCC of its powers “is a huge concern for businesses”.
“It is a step backwards in the fight against bullying and intimidation and will add costs and delays to vital community infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and schools.”
“The building code is playing a vital role in ensuring that all participants in the construction industry comply with industrial laws and maintain high standards of occupational health and safety,” he said.
AAP with staff writers