Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull apparently feels pretty confident about the coalition's chances of winning snap elections.  He's threatening to dissolve both houses and call for an election on 2 July if they don't approve his industrial relations bills.

The PM is bringing back both houses of Parliament for an extraordinary sitting in April to consider the legislation.  One is The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) bill, which would reintroduce the ABCC as the watchdog for construction unions and give it enhanced investigation powers and the authority to clamp down on unlawful pickets.  Mr. Turnbull claims the ABCC is "is a critical economic reform", and critics point out it would give the commission the power to force workers to attend interrogations and take away their right against self-incrimination to refuse to answer questions.

The second creates a new bureaucratic body called the Registered Organisations Commission.  It would regulate unions and employer associations, as well as have enhanced investigation and information-gathering powers - even more than the Fair Work Commission, which currently polices unions. 

Labor and the Greens opposed the bill on the basis unions were sufficiently regulated by the Fair Work Commission and that new offences would duplicate existing crimes legislation.