Union boss accuses government of betrayal over benchtop ban

A powerful union leader has accused the federal government of betraying tradies after Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke said banning the importation of toxic engineered stone would lead to its production in Australia.

Burke signalled a national decision on the shiny kitchen benchtops riddling Australian tradies with silicosis would be made this year, after state and territory governments last week delayed an all-out ban despite a major report warning it was the only way to keep stonemasons safe from irreversible lung disease.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says banning the importation of engineered stone could greenlight a domestic production industry.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union national secretary Zach Smith urged the federal government not to abrogate its responsibilities, calling for an import ban after Burke last week said the power to prohibit engineered stone outright rested with the states.

“It’s simply not true,” Smith told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. “Banning killer stone from entering the country is 100 per cent a federal responsibility.”

In response, Burke - who in February floated the idea of blocking imports - said: “An import ban on its own simply gives a green light to domestic production of the same substance.”

Hitting back, Smith said: “It’s completely ridiculous to suggest an import ban would somehow fuel a homegrown industry. Where’s the evidence to back that up?”

CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith urged the federal government not to abrogate its responsibilities over a potential ban of engineered stone.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Smith questioned Burke’s commitment to banning the substance, asking why he wouldn’t “support pulling every lever the federal government has.”

“Walking away from an import ban and simply saying ‘this is on the states’ is tantamount to a betrayal of workers,” he said.

Burke kicked off talks with state and territory leaders earlier this year about a national ban after investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes revealed a growing number of workers were battling the debilitating symptoms of silicosis while state-based regulators failed to effectively police workplaces.

On Friday, the ministers agreed to release a Safe Work Australia report that found governments had failed to protect workers, and recommended a blanket ban.

“I am working constructively with the states and territories because the best protection for workers lies with a consistent national response,” Burke said on Sunday. “Now that the report is public, every jurisdiction can work towards a decision for a national response this year.”

NSW, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland have all publicly supported a ban. Burke stopped short of calling for one during an interview with ABC’s RN Breakfast on Friday morning, before the release of the report.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable for us to be making a final decision without the public knowing what’s in the report,” he said, later issuing a statement that the ministers would meet again before the end of the year to decide their next steps.

The delay prompted Dean Morris, a stonemason who contracted silicosis while working with engineered stone, and Dr Graeme Edwards, a clinician who helped raise the alarm over the disease, to accuse the governments of contributing to further deaths.

Smith said that along with an import ban the federal government could also prohibit the use of engineered stone on all Commonwealth-funded construction projects, as well as update its model work health and safety laws that guide state and territory legislation.

“We need federal leadership here,” Smith said. “That would help ensure any waving state ministers are not allowed to commit a deadly moral failure when it comes to banning the use of engineered stone through their work health and safety laws,” he said.