Cole royal commission paper raises hopes for labour-market competition

The discussion paper seems to suggest that in construction, the distinction between legal and illegal market manipulation is blurred and perhaps a core cause of industry problems. The paper asks if it remains appropriate to isolate employment from competition law, thus raising questions about the ethics of the entire industrial relations system.

The commission is seeking submissions, and the responses will be illuminating. Unions and academic labour lawyers can be expected to submit the usual posturings about the immorality of regulating labour like any other commodity. But greater interest will be in responses from business and employer associations.

If the construction industry is silent, recommendations could emerge to extend competition law into labour areas in unpredictable ways, potentially threatening some underlying business structures.

If businesses and their associations criticise the paper but fail to substantiate their criticism, evidence already accumulated by the commission could expose possible complicity in market manipulation.

If business agrees with the paper, it could open a new and, to some, frightening era of competition.