Key Points
- The government has agreed to a Coalition demand that CFMEU be put into a minimum three-year administration.
- A final agreement is yet to be reached.
- Points of contention remain over explicitly banning donations.
A division of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) is set to be put through a minimum three-year administration period, under a tentative agreement struck between Labor and the Coalition following corruption allegations.
Legislation to appoint an external administrator to the union’s construction arm after the Opposition refused to support the bill without concessions on a minimum period and donation bans.
Negotiations are continuing after the Coalition and Greens teamed up on Thursday to block the bill from being passed before the weekend.
A final agreement had not been reached as of Monday morning, Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said, but a number of Coalition amendments had been agreed to.
“I’m certainly very hopeful after the weekend that we will [reach a deal]; it’s on them now to come to the party,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.
The CFMEU over allegations of corruption and links to organised crime figures.
Labor’s national executive and multiple state branches suspended ties and donations from the construction union, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and senior ministers called for it to accept external administrators.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton argued amendments were needed because on the construction, which was rejected by the government who pointed to the action taken in the legislation.
“We’re having this debate because the government is running against common sense and logic in the views of the majority of Australians,” he told parliament.
The government initially agreed to extend the proposed maximum administration period from three to five years, but the Liberals insisted on a three-year minimum being written into the law.
The administrator will also have to recommend the administration be ended before the minister takes action to prevent branches from being let off the hook early.
Points of contention remain over explicitly banning donations or political campaigning during the administration period.
Senator Murray Watt says he is betting his “bottom dollar” that the CFMEU won’t campaign for Labor at the election. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
Labour argues that a prohibition could give the CFMEU a chance to argue that the law is unconstitutional in the High Court.
But given from the construction branch and the administrator would be the only person in charge of decision-making, receiving money wasn’t an issue, the government said.
Senator Watt also noted that CFMEU officials had campaigned for other independents and minor parties, including One Nation.
“And I can bet you, bottom dollar they’re not going to be campaigning for us next time,” he said in reference to the action Labor had taken against the 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.
Government Senate leader Penny Wong told the opposition benches in the Senate chamber on Monday: “I hope for your sake that the delay of the weekend … has not led to money being transferred that we then find out about.”
