"If this legislation is not stopped the toll on Australian citizens is really not able to be pre-determined as its so far-reaching, the realisation will come as we live it "

"We have had so many changes and turmoil in the Industry over the past 2 years, With minimal land planning holdups, changes to liveability, NCC changes, Energy rating, IR laws, most older tradies if they were not htinking of getting before this new reform I am sure they will pull the pin. Leaving Australia with a severe housing shortage and rental crisis. Cut all the red tape and let us build houses."

"we are a building company and it these changes were to go through, many people will loose there jobs because it is that ridiculous we would simply just close the doors."

"This is one of the worst possible things that can happen to the building and construction industry. We are a mum and dad residential builder almost in our mid fifties. We have been in business for nearly 30 years. We are currently facing a large number of daily challenges created by the Covid pandemic. From labour and material shortages to massive price hikes. Staying in business is extremely tough and stressful. If this legislation goes through we will simply have to shut shop. The implications and the red tape will no longer be manageable or even possible for a small business. I understand that whether our business continues or not will not have any impact on anything but if you multiply this by the thousands, I think that you will be faced by crisis that this country has never faced before. These views are shared by many other builders that we know and I know for a fact that business closures will become the norm with this new proposed lergislation. The government talks about a housing affordability crisis and a shortage of housing yet most of the problems that this country is facing is predominantly caused by the government and their policies. I just hope that the people responsible for bringing in this new legislation into place will be held 100% accountable when the construction industry becomes totally destroyed (this is the reality of this proposal). One other thing that I feel needs to be brought to attention is what this is doing to the mental health of the thousands of people directly affected by this. "

"This industrial relation change will suit the unions because the industry will be controlled by the them . " Back to the industrial disasters of the 80's " Strikes , Union thuggery and full control of the industry. I know from experience from running a business during the 80's and I would say that if those days come back ( which they will under these new laws ) I could not continue with my business. "

"This is absolutely terrible it will ruin my way of life "

"As the main income earner being a sole trader with a small business, all my time and investment is in my business, i cant pack up and work on something else, this is my life, blood sweat and tears"

"Most large building companies already have a small group of employees to carry out their trades, however to insist that sole traders and sub-contractors now become employees will impact on our business in a negative way. Our running costs will increase and then the on flow of that will be that the "client" will pay higher for their new home, alterations and additions etc. This would only add fuel to the inflation fire. We would also see a sharp rise in mental health an area that is already showing concern, why would we add this worry to the industry."

"I am a recently qualified carpenter working as a sub contractor trying to get my business going and provide for myself, these laws will make me have to start back from square one and lose all the freedoms I’ve worked to get"

"Trying to give the unions control, I have been personally told by QLD CFMEU secretary that they hate self employed as they can not control our pay, hours etc."

"This has been tried before and the only reason it is back again is because the Labor Government sees an opportunity to give more power to the unions which is dwindling and they believe they now have carte blanch between state and federal power to control an individual's rights. This of course is not only limited to the building industry but is a blatant attempt to wipe out subcontractors and gain power and it is why Australians and in particular West Australians should never give an individual Government autonomous control, there needs to always be a minimum of 2 parties who can represent all industry focus to ensure fair and equitable debate in all cases and not one bias."

"This will have huge impacts on the small businesses who can't afford to directly employ their contractors. This was tried before by the Hawke Labour Govt back in the early 80's when they tried to force contract draftsmen, engineers, architects and air conditioning contractors to become staff members of large companies. Their problem then was that the single largest employer of contract labour was the ATO and when this was pointed out to the Govt the problem mysteriously went away until now !!!! "

"Why indeed, the construction industry is tough as it is, are we returning to the dragooning days of the Builders Labourer Federation if so YES this new industrial relations change will negatively effect my ability to make a living"

"These new laws are not suitable for running a business in Australia "

"Yes I am a builder and we hire a lot of subcontractors across all the different trades in the construction industry. We have had the conversation with many about their preference to stay self employed or be employed and majority like their freedom to o run their own businesses as sole traders or independent companies. This suits the needs of the principle contractor and sub contractors and doesn’t need government intervention. It works and people are happy within the industry with how it works. It is another case of the white collar workers passing legislation on a field they don’t understand deeply enough to pass ruling on. The construction industry has copped plenty of that oflvrr the years"

"We shouldn't have our rights taken from us, some people need the flexibility of being self employed for various reasons. Not only that but not everyone can start a business in a partnership or PTY LTD, some of the most successful business people I know started as sole traders, We work our way up to bigger business structures which also allows others more jobs and offers more individuals opportunities to become skilled in a trade. With the Australia wide trade shortage this is not only a bad move for other industries, but especially ours."

"This is not for the building industry we need independent contractors If it goes ahead it will have a Magee impact for us ! "

"This would be one of the worst decisions ever made. The entire building industry would collapse. Small business "

"THis is a ridiculous idea No Contractors no construction "

"This government proposal is going towards communism"

"This will have huge impacts on the small businesses who can't afford to directly employ their contractors"

"Sub contractors are the backbone of the industry. Removing them from the bulding process will have a devastating impact. "

"This would be a sad day for our industry if this unfolds.....People need to have their own choice "

"this will bring the construction industry to its knees."

"Sub contractors should be allowed why would this change it will disadvantage a lot of subies to work independently "

"I use Subcontractors for my work out i use contractors that are companies Pty Ltd "

"Yes I feel I have more control over my finances"

"We need a BOSS to manage people and skill them. Most bosses are contractors/sub contractors, they are leaders, they are trainers, and they make their living knowing they have others to pay. Dont take that right away. We need, discipline, more so now than anytime that I have been in business. Taking the boss/contractor/subcontractor rights away will cripple the building industry "

"One solution does not fit all"

"The loss of independent contractors would make it impossible for us to continue our business We are not large enough to employ people full time. It would increase our cost to the point where we would become uncompetitive "

"As a small business employer we would struggle to pay all the extra expenses re:- Workers Compensation, PAYG, Superannuation and all that comes with having employees. It would destroy our industry."

"This will affect business on the border towns . We have too many changes in the building industry at the moment NCC changes, Livability, Energy rating, subcontract registering. The building trade is very tough at the moment. The price of housing is going up daily. This is not good for our younger generation"

"This industry has worked successfully this way for decades with Subcontracting trades, without government intervention. If trades didnt like the conditions they dont have to work for that Customer. Tech has solved the accounting/tax discrepancy issues previously used as the reason to stamp out subcontracting. The ATO has all the information at its fingertips. Trades need to move with the projects and between builders seemlessly. Its impossible for Builders to employ the whole suite of trades to complete a project. The cost increases to the end consumer will see many projects shelved for years. The lack of available trades will further become a supply issue for the industry."

"I have been a builder for the last 40 years and the role of subcontractors is an essential part of how the residfential building industry functions. Thus keep cost down for the consumers. Without independent subcontractors it will lead to increased building prices, Monopolistic construction companies taking over as can be seen on our public sector work with greatly inflated pricing. Everyone should have the opportunity to work for themselves to independently if they so choose."

"These people have chosen to work as independent contractors for a reason. It’s about choice... this is the lifestyle he wants to work in."

"People who make their own arrangements may have that freedom taken away. At the moment they have choice and they can choose to take home more money."

"‘I can only see this crippling some of the smaller builders as they [try to] implement it. And when you reduce the supply of tradespeople to do the work, costs will go up and it will slow things down as well. "

"Each industry must be looked at independently."

"There’ll be a lot of pissed of tradies – they like their freedom and not to be tied to a builder... they can do what they like."

"Contracting is run by the weather and if you’re paying people and there’s no work, that’s hard."

"What this bill is saying is technically they need to roll into small mum-and-dad businesses and become an employee. It’s a burden for small business. They don’t want the red tape, they don’t want the hassles. To culturally change that overnight, even if it was accepted, it would stop our industry, absolutely."

"‘Same job, same pay’ will take away any incentive to actually work hard. This is a terrible idea for workers and their employers."