Gutless move by Coalition gives unions more power
DESPITE election promises to reintroduce public interest tests for union mergers, the Coalition dumped legislation in the past week. Powerhouse unions will be next and industry is furious, writes Peta Credlin.
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AT the last election the Coalition promised to reintroduce a public interest test for union mergers, just like the test that’s applied when companies seek to merge.
We used to have this test before Julia Gillard removed it. In August last year, the legislation passed the House of Representatives but then languished in the Senate because no one in the Turnbull government could be bothered driving the negotiations, despite knowing there was a Fair Work Commission decision pending on the proposed amalgamation of the CFMEU and the MUA to create the most cashed-up and militant union in history.
Industry groups tried hard to get the Coalition to focus but after cancelling a week of parliament last year (remember that?) and debating only same-sex marriage in another, they “ran out of time”, or at least that was the excuse. Without a public interest test, the Fair Work Commission said it had no option but to approve the merger. New minister Craig Laundy had said it was a priority but, with no warning, he capitulated this week and dumped the legislation without even putting it to a vote in the Senate. Many words come to mind but gutless is probably the most apt.
That’s the view of industry and many of his colleagues. The crossbench claim they had an open mind but had barely heard from the minister. Industry is furious and justifiably feels let down. All the while, the 70 or so CFMEU officials facing the courts, and the dozens convicted over illegal activity on building sites, are cheering as their merger goes ahead.
This new powerhouse of thuggery has $300 million in assets, and revenue of more than $140 million a year, to deploy in economic blackmail ahead of the next election. It’s clear that Laundy, one of Turnbull’s so-called “bed-wetters”, still hasn’t learnt to stiffen his spine and stand up for principle.