CFMEU denies it did deal with Hanson over bill
The CFMEU has rejected accusations it made a deal convincing Hanson to vote against the government’s anti-union legislation.
The CFMEU has rejected accusations it did a deal with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson to convince her to vote against the government’s anti-union legislation, but will consider not campaigning against the party at the next Queensland election.
Senator Hanson shocked the Morrison government when she and One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts voted against the Ensuring Integrity Bill, sparking allegations the militant union and the minor party had inked a deal before the October state election.
Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union national president Jade Ingham denied that suggestion, and said Senator Hanson had come to the realisation the legislation — which would make it easier to deregister unions — was bad for Australia.
“There is no deal; we simply advocated on behalf of our members to a bunch of different decision-makers and fortunately senators (Jacqui) Lambie, Hanson and Roberts made the right call, based on merit,” Mr Ingham said.
“I’m sure we weren’t the only organisation trying to get them to understand the implications (that) this was nothing more than union-busting legislation.
“Since 2008, 102 construction workers have been killed on the job in Queensland alone, (and of those) we haven’t had a single death on a union site. Where’s the moral outrage about that?”
Asked whether the CFMEU would consider not campaigning against One Nation at polling booths at next year’s state election, Mr Ingham said: “We’ll make that decision based on merit at the time. There’s no doubt One Nation, and others, made the right call last Thursday (to vote the bill down), and they didn’t do it because they are in love with the CFMEU, they did it because it’s the right thing to do.”
Resources Minister Matt Canavan told Sky Senator Hanson was “trying to take the Australian people as mugs”.
“The thing’s gone a little bit to her head,” he said.
Independent Senator Lambie said she was open to discussions with the government about the bill if it reintroduced it.
It comes as the Queensland CFMEU — of which Mr Ingham is assistant state secretary — steps up its campaign against the Palaszczuk Labor government over the administration of the $5.4bn Cross River Rail public transport project. The union — along with the AMWU, the ETU, and the Plumbers Union — is locked in wage negotiations with proponent CPB, trying to secure wage increases of up to 5 per cent a year for workers on the project.
Full-page advertisements paid for by the CFMEU will run in Brisbane’s The Courier-Mail newspaper on Monday, urging Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to “stand up for Queensland workers, businesses and the community, and don’t line the pockets of greedy multinationals”.
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