It took the prime minister to make an obvious point that had been overlooked in all the coverage of the CFMEU’s alleged corruption: much of the alleged misconduct took place while the construction sector was regulated by the Coalition’s bespoke industry regulator, the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), which was only abolished by Labor in February last year.
The ABCC was re-established by the Turnbull government in 2016 with the promise that it would end CFMEU thuggery and lift productivity in construction. We were told back then the restored ABCC would lift productivity in the sector by 20%.
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