Senator ABETZ (Tasmania—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Employment) (14:55): The building code promotes best-practice workplace relations. It is designed to bring back the rule of law to our building sites. It is designed to ensure safe, fair and cooperative workplaces in which workers are no longer intimidated, and that is why we need the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Senator Lines interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Lines! Senator ABETZ: Central to the code is the requirement that those who want to do taxpayer-funded work must comply with the law—nothing too radical there—including industrial laws dealing with pay and entitlements and occupational health and safety. If an employer is guilty of underpaying their workers or of committing safety breaches, the company puts at risk its ability to do work funded by the Commonwealth. Senator Cameron interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Cameron! Senator Lines interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Lines! Senator ABETZ: Another aim of the building code is to ensure that contractors are not hampered by rorts and rackets—the sorts of things that those opposite and the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria seek to champion. (Time expired)