Union-busting legislation has been reintroduced amid tense scenes in parliament, less than a week after the bill
Labor tried to delay Attorney-General Christian Porter's introduction of the bill, which has been slightly tweaked to include amendments from the Senate crossbench.
Mr Porter said the draft laws, which make it easier to deregister unions and ban officials for repeated law-breaking, would benefit workers and the economy.
"(The bill) is not going away because the problem isn't going away," Mr Porter told the lower house on Wednesday.
![Attorney-General Christian Porter arrives for Question Time in the House of Representatives.](https://images.sbs.com.au/drupal/news/public/union1.jpg?imwidth=1280)
Attorney-General Christian Porter arrives for Question Time in the House of Representatives. Source: AAP
The attorney-general pointed to figures from the Australian Building and Construction Commission during his speech, saying there had been
Workers had been spat on by union officials, he said.
Labor's industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke tried to delay the bill from being debated until mid-2022, saying the government couldn't accept that the draft laws had been defeated.
"What they want to present is effectively the ensuring double standards bill," he told the chamber.
"A bill that is part of this government's two-stage tactic.
"Stage one: attack the organisations that defend pay and conditions. Stage two: attack the pay and conditions themselves."
![The draft laws would make it easier to deregister unions and ban officials.](https://images.sbs.com.au/drupal/news/public/unions3.jpg?imwidth=1280)
The draft laws would make it easier to deregister unions and ban officials. Source: AAP
Mr Porter is gearing up for a fresh round of consultation with crossbench senators.
He is prepared to make further amendments to win their support.
"Since the bill was voted on last week in the Senate, issues have been raised which were not raised with the government during consultations on the bill," Mr Porter said on Wednesday.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said even with further changes, the bill would still represent an attack on ordinary workers.
"The fact is this is not in the interests of working people," he told ABC radio.
![Anthony Albanese during Question Time.](https://images.sbs.com.au/drupal/news/public/20191202001435683566-original.jpg?imwidth=1280)
Anthony Albanese during Question Time. Source: AAP
"Every time this government sees a nurse or sees a teacher, what they see is a trade unionist who they deride as being a thug."
The coalition's "ensuring integrity" bill was rebuffed in the upper house last week, with One Nation opposing it in a humiliating defeat for the government.