Release type: Media Release

Date:

Taking action to clean up the construction industry

Ministers:

The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Minister for the Arts

The number one job of any union and its officials is to look after its members.

The reported behaviour from the construction division of the CFMEU is the complete opposite of this.

It is abhorrent and it is intolerable.

I said that we’d take strong action to address these issues and we are.

The General Manager of the Fair Work Commission has indicated he wants to take legal action to appoint administrators to the construction division of the CFMEU and is seeking advice on this course of action.

If the General Manager of the Fair Work Commission takes this action, I will intervene to ensure the proceedings are successful.

I’ve taken advice from my Department and have considered the comments of the General Manager of the Fair Work Commission.

If the proceedings are challenged and the matter has not been resolved before Parliament returns, then the Government will legislate to ensure there is a clear pathway for the Commission to put any part of the construction division of the CFMEU into administration.

The Government will ensure the regulator has all the powers it needs to appoint administrators.

There can be no place for criminality or corruption in any part of the construction industry.

Further to this, the Government is taking the following action.

I have requested the Fair Work Ombudsman undertake a targeted review of all enterprise agreements made by the Victorian branch of the construction division of the CFMEU that apply to Victorian “Big Build” projects.

I stress as part of this review the Government is seeking information on coercive behaviour and has no intention of taking any action which would put at risk terms and conditions of employment for the workers covered by these agreements. This is not their fault.

The Government will use its procurement powers to ensure that enterprise agreements used on Government funded projects are genuinely agreed and that workplaces are free from coercion and intimidation.

I have also written to the AFP Commissioner requesting that the AFP investigate the recent allegations and work cooperatively with state police to investigate and prosecute any criminal breaches.