Key Points
- Legislation giving the minister power to appoint an administrator passed the Senate on Monday.
- The opposition agreed to pass the bill after securing several amendments.
- The union criticised the law, saying it stripped members of the right to a fair process.
The fate of the CFMEU has been sealed after the coalition gave Labor the green light to pass laws neutering the construction union’s resistance to external administration.
Legislation giving the minister power to appoint an administrator passed the Senate on Monday and is set to be ticked off in the lower house as early as Tuesday.
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said an administration scheme would be in place “over the next week”.
The CFMEU over allegations of corruption and links to organised crime figures.
The union criticised the law, saying it stripped members of the right to a fair process.
Criminal allegations were taken seriously and people had been stood down pending legal proceedings but they remained untested in court, CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith said.
“Until allegations have been tested by the legal system, people and organisations are entitled to a fair process,” he said.
“The deal cut by Labor and the coalition is as shameful as it is unnecessary — an act of political expediency at the expense of fundamental tenets of Australian democracy and our legal system.”
How the deal was reached
The opposition agreed to pass the bill after securing several amendments, including a three-year minimum administration period for the union and its branches that only the administrator could end early.
The administration period can last up to five years under the law and officials found guilty of crimes would be banned for life and unable to become bargaining agents at other registered organisations without holding a fit-and-proper-person certificate.
Those who attempt to frustrate or obstruct the process could face hefty fines and two years’ jail.
The administrator has assured the opposition the union would not spend money on political campaigns or donate during the takeover.
“That is possibly the most significant part of what we wanted,” opposition workplace relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said.
Senator Watt chastised the delay in passing the bill.
“Let’s just hope that no assets have been shifted within the CFMEU or other action taken over the last few days,” he said.
While the Greens criticised the deal and called the legislation “an unprecedented attack on the rule of law”, business and building groups welcomed the move.
What happens next?
The bill will be ticked off by the government-controlled lower house as early as Tuesday.
The construction division won’t immediately be placed into administration, with the minister needing to jump through some regulatory hoops.
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said the industry needed an effective union to represent workers.
“This is hard, dangerous work in construction,” he told ABC radio.
“But they need one that’s clean and free from the constant allegations of organised crime, bikies, violence on site that we see surrounding this union.”
Building groups have been lobbying both sides to pass the legislation, arguing each day without external oversight is another day of delays at affected construction sites.
