Albanese government will introduce legislation next week to force an administrator into the CFMEU
- Written by Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
The Albanese government next week will introduce legislation to force the appointment of an administrator into the recalcitrant CFMEU, after the union tried a delaying tactic to drag out court action.
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt announced on Friday the legislation – which the government threatened if the union resisted the application by the Fair Work Commission’s General Manager to install an administrator – would go ahead.
Watt had given the union until 5pm on Thursday to consent to the application, which is before the federal court.
He told a news conference that at 5.09 Thursday he had received a response from Zach Smith, the union’s national secretary, “in which he said that consenting to the application only remains a possibility.
"It is clear that the CFMEU will not consent to that application any time soon and for that reason the Albanese government will introduce a bill to deal with this situation when parliament returns next week.”
The bill will enable Watt to decide whether it is in the public interest to appoint an administrator into the union’s construction division. He would then set down a scheme of administration, including the administrator’s powers, roles and responsibilities. The legislation would give the Fair Work Commission’s General Manager, Murray Furlong, the power to appoint the administrator.
Watt said the bill was drafted so as to withstand legal challenge. There were “a couple of steps in the legislation to ensure that it can hold up in court – because I think you can bet your bottom dollar that the CFMEU will try and challenge it”.
“We cannot stand by and allow a once proud union to be infiltrated by bikies and organised crime or have bullying and thuggery as part of its day-to-day business,” Watt said.
“The construction division of the CFMEU has clearly failed to operate effectively or in the best interest of its members. Urgent action is required,” he said
“Our legislation is a critical step towards ridding organised crime from the construction industry once and for all.”
In his letter, Smith said the allegations had “not been tested by any court or tribunal, and the union’s rules require procedural fairness to be afforded to all persons whose interests are directly affected by any steps taken to address the allegations”.
“This takes time,” he wrote. The union had sent questions to the commission’s General Manager, Murray Furlong.
“Consenting to the application or seeking to negotiate some revisions to the proposed scheme in order to facilitate consent remains a possibility,” Smith wrote.
But Watt said the union had had “ample time”. “The time for messing about is over.”
The union has previously tried to argue it can deal itself with the crisis following revelations in Nine media of a range of alleged nefarious behaviour. The union has appointed anti-corruption expert Geoffrey Watson to investigate the allegations.
The opposition has called for the union to be deregistered, but is expected to support the government’s legislation, although probably it will try to get amendments.
Authors: Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
