Super directors resign amid stoush with CFMEU
Queensland’s $6bn construction industry super fund BUSSQ is in turmoil after half the board resigned in a dispute with directors appointed by the CFMEU.
Queensland’s $6bn construction industry super fund is in turmoil after half the board resigned in protest over a governance dispute with directors appointed by the powerful CFMEU.
Three directors appointed by industry group Master Builders Queensland – Paul Bidwell, Sonya Beyers and Madeline Dermatossian – resigned from BUSSQ at the beginning of January.
That left only three CFMEU directors including union secretary Michael Ravbar, chair Paula Masters and Jacquie Collie on the board that serves more than 70,000 members in the building and construction industry. Under the constitution of BUSSQ the board has equal representation of employers and union members.
The resignations leave the super fund paralysed amid speculation it is planning to merge with the national construction super fund CBUS, chaired by former Labor Treasurer Wayne Swan.
Relations between the Master Builders directors and CFMEU directors reportedly broke down last year over the future direction of the fund amid merger talks with CBUS.
Mr Ravbar, considered one of the most powerful unionists in the country, joined the board last November. Master Builders chief executive Grant Galvin resigned from the BUSSQ board in September. Mr Galvin declined to comment.
Divisions in the board deepened after an external review of the fund mandated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) identified areas where it needed to improve its effectiveness. They included plans for board succession and future strategy.
The super industry is now required to meet greater regulatory hurdles following the Royal Commission into banking and financial services, meaning smaller funds such as BUSSQ face high costs.
Master Builders Queensland and its board representatives declined to comment on the resignations. But Master Builders assured “all stakeholders that it is presently and actively taking legal advice and seeking relevant information so that it can make an informed and responsible decision in the best interests of members of the fund.” Comment has been sought from the CFMEU.
APRA is encouraging mergers between super funds, particularly smaller ones, to achieve better returns for members. QSuper and Sunsuper are joining to create one of the biggest superannuation funds in the country while LGIAsuper and Energy Super also are merging.
But some members of BUSSQ are against a merger given the fund is one of the better performers in the country, returning annual returns of close to 10 per cent over the past 37 years. BUSSQ’s balanced growth super and balanced growth funds ended 2021 with their 13th straight year of positive returns, delivering 12.49 per cent and 12.85 per cent respectively for one year to 31 December 2021.
There is growing concern that those returns will be threatened if new directors are not appointed by Master Builders, given that the board now lacks a quorum to make any decisions.
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