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Master Builders warns CFMEU is ‘flexing muscle’ in SA

There are fears the CFMEU’s behaviour in SA will go unchecked after the building industry watchdog is abolished amid investigations into militant behaviour in the eastern states.

CFMEU faces multi-employer bargaining ban

A spike in investigations into militant behaviour on eastern states construction sites has sparked a warning that the same can be expected in South Australia, an industry leader has claimed.

Aggressive union behaviour on SA construction sites is already becoming more prevalent after the recent Victorian takeover of the CFMEU’s SA branch, Master Builders SA boss Will Frogley says.

Figures from the soon to be abolished Australian Building and Construction Commission’s 2021-22 annual report show a 50 per cent spike in the number of new investigations launched in Queensland last financial year, from 31 to 54.

In NSW the rise was from 26 to 42 and in Victoria, 33 to 44. In SA there were eight new investigations, up from six.

Master Builders boss Will Frogley. Picture: Matt Loxton
Master Builders boss Will Frogley. Picture: Matt Loxton

The ABCC has issued $1.2m in penalties in SA since the watchdog was restarted in December 2016.

Nearly all of those fines were handed to the CFMEU across eight industrial cases that found 68 infringements.

Mr Frogley warned bad behaviour would continue to ramp up in SA.

“Reports are that we’re already seeing it on sites in South Australia,” Mr Frogley said.

“There’s a lot more pressure on people in construction in South Australia to do what the union wants (them) to do, whether that’s being a member (or) signing up to their agreement.”

He said the union had been “emboldened” and were “flexing a bit of muscle”.

CFMEU general secretary Dave Noonan said the ABCC “turns a blind eye” to illegal behaviour by employers, while prosecuting union officials for “the most trivial matters”.

“The ABCC is one of last vestiges of John Howard’s WorkChoices and the federal government has a clear mandate to abolish it, which they took to the Australian people at the election,” Mr Noonan said.

Mr Frogley argued the ABCC had a “high prosecution rate” and “there was clear evidence that the union was misbehaving”.

“The concern now is ‘are there going to be consequences for breaking the law without a specialist watchdog?’,” he said.

Workplace Minister Tony Burke has vowed to establish a National Construction Industry Forum as a statutory body in place of the ABCC, which Labor said was politicised and targeted unions.

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/master-builders-warns-cfmeu-is-flexing-muscle-in-sa/news-story/96394186c19231186ae42154c6c8031a