‘Cancel culture’: CFMEU challenges Federal Court’s ban on Eureka flag

The construction union is appealing against a landmark Federal Court ruling banning the Eureka flag on certain building sites..

John Setka, then the Victorian secretary of the CFMEU, with Eureka and CFMEU flags on a crane in 2018. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

The construction union is appealing against a landmark Federal Court ruling banning the Eureka flag on certain building sites, ­accusing the Morrison government of engaging in “cancel ­culture”.

The appeal is the latest legal skirmish between the government’s Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union.

The Federal Court in March rejected challenges by Lendlease and the CFMEU to restrictions on the display of union flags and posters by companies subject to the federal building code.

ABCC commissioner Stephen McBurney said the court decision affirmed that any application of a union logo or motto to clothing, property or equipment provided by the employer was in breach of the code. “For building and construction workers, their decision on whether or not they join a union must be a matter of free choice,” he said last month.

Unions said the government’s position should be denounced by free speech advocates, who should support changes to the law to stop the ban on the Eureka flag.

CFMEU construction division national secretary Dave Noonan confirmed on Friday the union was appealing to a full court of the Federal Court. “We have advice that there’s a strong case that the decision’s in error,” he said. “We think it’s very important that this matter be properly determined.”

Mr Noonan said the ban on the Eureka flag was part of “Scott Morrison’s cancel culture”.

“Under Morrison, it’s OK to be racist, it’s OK to say all sorts of things about people, but fly a ­Eureka flag or put a union sticker on your hat and you’re cancelled,” he said. “We look forward to the usual supporters of free speech speaking out on this one.”

Federal Labor has committed to scrapping the ABCC if it wins the election, a position attacked by Master Builders Australia and the Coalition.

The MBA launched an advertising campaign this week urging Labor not to abolish the ABCC, with chief executive Denita Wawn claiming Anthony Albanese faced a key test of his pro-business credentials.

An analysis of 40 marginal seats by Laidlaw Campaigns & Counsel, commissioned by the MBA, indicates overwhelming public support for the ABCC after the construction sector was seen to have propped up economic ­activity during the pandemic.

An ALP campaign spokesman said Labor made no apology for promising to scrap the ABCC, calling it a “politicised and totally discredited organisation that targets workers and was itself found to have acted unlawfully”.

“It was set up by the LNP to dismantle unions and undermine the pay, conditions, and job security of ordinary Australian workers. We will abolish it and make no apology for that,” he said.