CANBERRA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has passed legislation that will reestablish the country's construction watchdog.
The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) passed the Senate on Wednesday afternoon after the government secured the votes of key crossbenchers after months of negotiating.
The ABCC, which was abolished by Julia Gillard's former Australian Labor Party (ALP) government in 2012, will police illegal activity in the construction industry but has been labelled as "anti-union" by the ALP and Greens Party.
Eric Abetz, leader of the Government in the Senate and former workplace relations minister, said the ABCC would put a "tough cop back on the beat."
"The passage of the bill should put all dodgy union bosses and employers in the building industry who engage in criminal activity on notice that the tough cop is back on the beat," Abetz told reporters on Wednesday.
"It is pleasing that the new Senate crossbench was more open minded to supporting this bill, which enacts a longstanding piece of Coalition policy to reinstitute the rule of law on construction sites."
