[4] Members of the commission included the Australian Council of Social Service[5] and Treasurer Ralph Willis.
In 1986 Charlie Fitzgibbon, leader of the Waterside Workers' Federation, delivered a report to the commission criticizing the incumbent Hawke government's handling of industrial relations, with particular reference to the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF).
His report, titled "International Trade Policy", suggested that the government and industry needed to move quickly to provide an environment more conducive to international trade by reducing the power of "out of control" unions in Australia, and thus the high costs of local companies.
[6] He named the BLF as an example of one such union, it was at the time accused of playing companies off each other, and was in danger of deregistration.
[7] The Hawke government initially tried to bury the report, however it was eventually released, with the opposition calling for a "trade emergency" over the findings.