Federal Labor believes police and not a new bureaucratic body should be investigating allegations of corruption in the construction industry.
Opposition employment spokesman Brendan O'Connor said there should be no tolerance for corruption or bribery in any form and any evidence of such should be turned over to law enforcement authorities.
A joint ABC-Fairfax Media investigation claims union officials are making corrupt deals to help companies linked to organised crime secure construction contracts.
The government says the report highlights the pressing need for the industry watchdog Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) to be re-established.
The commission was replaced with a Fair Work inspectorate by the previous Labor government, and Labor and the Greens are now blocking legislation for a new ABCC in the Senate.
Mr O'Connor said there were already ways to deal with matters such as those reported on Tuesday.
"It is quite odd to suggest that we need a new body to deal with crime when in fact everybody knows that the police are the experts when it comes to combatting crime," he told AAP on Tuesday.
"If there's anything of a criminal dimension in this sector then that should be investigated by the police, not by public servants or by new bodies.
Mr O'Connor said just because an individual in a union or employer group might have acted improperly or even corruptly, it did not mean the whole organisation was in the wrong.
"To suggest that those organisations are not in a position to act legitimately is completely ridiculous," he said.
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