The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has used allegations of corruption, bribery and intimidation in the construction industry to advocate for the return of the the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) and flag a potential royal commission into unions.
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Dave Oliver said a royal commission would be motivated by politics and the police were the best people to deal with allegations of corruption.
"We think a royal commission would be totally unnecessary and it would be a political witch hunt," he told ABC Radio in Melbourne.
"We know that Tony Abbott and his government don't like unions, and a royal commission would be designed to tie up not only taxpayer resources, but be a drain on union resources, which is something that would be totally unnecessary."
Oliver said a royal commission was part of a Coalition game plan that began after the 2007 election campaign when the union movement successfully campaigned on workers' rights.
"From that day onwards Tony Abbott and his government have had the trade union movement in their sights and they are determined to disempower the movement, and this will be one step, a way of trying to blemish the reputation of the proud trade union movement in this country and drain their resources," he said.
The Greens have echoed Oliver’s accusations of a “witch-hunt” with deputy leader Adam Bandt saying Abbott is gearing up for an attack on workers’ rights.
“The witch-hunt is starting. First Tony Abbott will go after unions, and then he’ll come for people’s rights at work,” he said in a statement.
“Isolated allegations of wrongdoing in one industry should be investigated by the police but should not be used to justify a full-scale assault on the union movement.”
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