As the Federal Election draws closer, the spotlight has been thrust on the Australian Labor Party’s intention to scrap the nation’s construction watchdog.

The ALP’s official policy is to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).

AREEA has been a consistent supporter of the ABCC since it was first recommended by the Cole Royal Commission in 2003 to ensure building and construction industry participants’ compliance with Australia’s workplace laws.

In Saturday’s Weekend Australian, Ewin Hannan’s feature article on the future of the ABCC highlighted the lawlessness, coercion and intimidation that would likely prevail if the ALP wins government.

“If the ALP was to abolish the ABCC and the Building Code, it would represent a significant capitulation to the CFMMEU against the national interest,” AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott said.

“It would beg the question of what other areas of Australian law would be deemed optional to be complied with? It paves a clear path to anarchy.”

Mr Knott said the ABCC existed an important mechanism to deter the union’s unrelenting law-breaking.

“AREEA would be on a unity ticket with the ALP and ACTU if lawbreaking unions such as the CFMMEU could demonstrate prolonged compliance with the law,” AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott said.

“We would prefer for there to be no need for the ABCC and Building Code, a significant saving for the taxpayer, as it would mean the CFMMEU in particular had addressed it’s deplorable culture of lawbreaking that has seen it named by the Federal Court as the ‘worst recidivist offender in Australia’s history’.

“However with $15 million in fines over the past decade and one million dollars in fines since July alone, the union’s contempt for Australia’s laws and other participants in the building sector shows no signs of waning.

“Master Builders research shows the cost of the CFMMEU’s lawlessness adds around 30 percent to project building costs.

“This hits the taxpayer through inflated infrastructure costs and affects jobs, productivity and competition in the private sector. Our lawmakers have a duty to come down hard against these behaviours and protect the public against these impacts.”

In abolishing the ABCC, Labor also would put an end to the national construction code that requires builders to remove union-friendly conditions from enterprise agreements if they want to tender for commonwealth work.