ABCC ups the ante

The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) — the secretive body formed by the Howard government in 2005 to police the construction industry — has ratcheted up the use of its compliance powers in the last six months, workplaceexpress.com.au reported on October 20.

Quoting from the ABCC's report on its activity for the six months ending September 30, the article indicated that the ABCC had issued 46 notices to attend and answer questions and conducted 36 compulsory examinations. This is the greatest use of its draconian powers to compel testimony from witnesses in closed sessions in its three-year history.

The ABCC's notices were issued disproportionately in Victoria, where 26 people were compelled to attend its secret hearings. In Queensland there were nine, with little activity elsewhere.

The article reported that the ABCC has issued 142 notices to appear. To date, only one person — Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union official Noel Washington — has refused to appear. Washington faces legal action for contempt on December 2 in Melbourne and may face six months in jail.

The government plans to abolish the ABCC and incorporate it into Fair Work Australia in 2010. It will still be a "tough cop on the beat" targeting the building industry unions, as workplace relations minister Julia Gillard has called it.

The ABCC is increasing its persecution of construction workers in an attempt to prove its indispensability. For a government under pressure to scrap the taskforce altogether, this increased activity will also be used to "prove" that the "tough cop" is still needed.

A review of the ABCC's powers is being carried out by former High Court Chief Justice Murray Wilcox.

From GLW issue 772