Change of heart: Federal Government shares secret trade union report with one person from Labor, Greens in bid to revive ABCC

Updated 11.45am: Both Labor and the Greens have declined the Coalition's offer to view the confidential TURC documents.

The Federal Government has, as they say, ‘chucked a U-ey’, when it comes to sharing its secrets with the Labor opposition party and the Greens.

Workplace Relations Minister Michaelia Cash has agreed to show the findings of a confidential Dyson Heydon trade unions royal commission (TURC) report to one representative from both the ALP and the Greens, mere hours after she said it was meaningless to do so.

This change of mind comes after the government had agreed to give crossbench senators access to the confidential volumes in a bid to garner support for the treinstatement of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).

The secret documents had been kept under wraps to protect the identities of those who had given evidence to the commission.

However, according to reports, some crossbench senators were upset that the Greens and Labor were denied access to the files. Worried this rift would prove an unnecessary distraction from the ABCC legislation, Senator Cash quickly softened her stance.

“This is all about getting good policy through the Senate,” she explained.

Who the two Greens and ALP representatives are is still unclear, but they will only be allowed to view the redacted documents in the presence of an officer from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The volumes also cannot be removed from the room, and may not be photographed. Notes cannot be taken, and any disclosure of the findings, including to fellow MPs, could result in fines or jail terms.

Letter from George Brandis to Mark Dreyfus, 2/2/2016 by Francis Keany

These strict conditions have prompted Tasmanian Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie to question the Coalition’s ‘game’.

"What if the Commissioner found in his secret findings that a mate of the Liberal Party was corrupt?" she asked. "This is how the Government can game or corrupt the system, and this is why Senator Cash is looking shifty."

Opposition leader Bill Shorten also criticised the government for “playing these reforms”, and said the move “smells more of politics than policy”.

Meanwhile, NT News reports that both NSW Senator David Leyonhjelm and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon believe allowing access to the confidential volumes is a mistake.

"I'm not sure I'll even bother to look at it," Senator Leyonhjelm said to reporters.

Why is the government fighting so hard to revive the ABCC?

The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption began early in 2014, hearing from 505 witnesses across the country over two years.

Commissioner Dyson Heydon provided his final report to the Governor-General on 28 December 2015, which found that there was “widespread” misconduct within unions in “every polity in Australia except the Northern Territory”, including the CFMEU and AWU.

Over 40 organisations and individuals targeted by the Commission have since been referred to the authorities, including the police, ASIC and the Fair Work Commission.

“This is not a case of a few rotten apples spoiling the whole barrel — there are many union officials, and widespread cultures, of impropriety and malpractice,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said after the report was unveiled.

The report also recommended the establishment of a construction watchdog that could investigate unions' records and finances – a role previously played by the ABCC.

The ABCC was set up under the Howard government, and is said to have saved the economy up to $6.3 billion a year by minimising unlawful union action, according to figures by Master Builders Australia. However, it was abolished by the Gillard Government in 2012 after revelations it had “illegally” and “secretly” interrogated workers “with no oversight”, the CFMEU said.

With the Coalition re-introducing a bill to reinstate the ABCC on Tuesday, the man behind the 2001 building and construction Royal Commission (and the push for the ABCC’s creation), has spoken out, saying the industry watchdog needs to be restored.

In a letter to The Australian, Terence Cole said the establishment of the ABCC was aimed at restoring “rule of law” to the sector, and that following its axing, “unlawful and inappropriate conduct was again prevalent.”

“Surely it is incumbent upon those who oppose the reintroduction of the ABCC to explain how it is to the advantage of the Australian economy, and to the Australian people who bear the great costs of unlawful action, to have an increased level of unlawfulness in the building and construction industry which the ABCC has demonstrated it can suppress, but which existing arrangements do not,” Cole wrote.

ABCC could trigger double dissolution

The ABCC legislation, re-introduced to the lower house today, needs the support of six or more crossbenchers to enter the upper house.

Already, there are reports that Family First Senator Bob Day and Senator leyonhjelm will vote with the government, but if the legislation isn’t passed by the Senate, a double dissolution election, which would force an election of all sitting members, could be on the cards.

The possibility of a double dissolution has been viewed as a threat by some crossbenchers, reports the ABC live blog.

"The Government is resorting to threats now to Senators to say you might lose your job if you don't vote for our legislation, so you better vote for it. It shows how desperate it has become," Greens MP Adam Bandt said.

The ABCC legislation has already been knocked down once before by the Senate.