‘CFMEU tax’ not for me, says Anthony Albanese
Anthony Albanese has ruled out replicating Queensland’s union-backed best practice industry conditions for federal infrastructure projects.
Anthony Albanese has ruled out replicating Queensland’s union-backed best practice industry conditions for federal infrastructure projects, as the construction sector blames the policy for cost hikes and productivity blowouts.
The building industry claims construction costs have been driven up 20 per cent by the Queensland government’s BPICs deal with four blue-collar unions, which forces contractors tendering for state government projects worth more than $100m to negotiate with the industrial advocates.
Under the BPICs, known colloquially as the “CFMEU tax”, construction workers are entitled to double-pay when it rains and an “orderly cessation of work” when the temperature on site reaches 35C, or 29C with at least 75 per cent humidity.
Mr Albanese had promised a “secure Australian jobs code” at the 2022 election, but the policy was beefed-up by CFMEU national secretaryZach Smith at last year’s ALP national conference, which backed union delegate rights, fair wages, and adoption of best-practice workplace relations.
Addressing the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane, the Prime Minister said his government had already passed significant industrial relations reforms and would not introduce pro-union best practice industry conditions during this term.
“Our industrial relations policies have been carried, so you can see what we’ve done,” he said. “We don’t have any intention for further IR legislation.”
Queensland Major Contractors Association chief Andrew Chapman this week said the state policy was forcing up construction costs between 10 and 20 per cent, and meant the industry was “delivery far less for far more”.
But Premier Steven Miles on Thursday again defended the policy, and said BPICs possibly resulting in workers having up to 100 days off a year was justifiable as a “safety measure”.
“It is important in a state like Queensland that there are safety measures in place for when the temperature and humidity get too high or for when it’s not safe to work in the wet,” he said.
“That’s not unusual in the construction industry.”
He said the BPICs and wages were modelled on those enshrined in enterprise bargaining agreements, which represented higher wages for workers than award rates.
Asked about concerns that BPICs benefited male-dominated sectors, rather than teaching and nursing, Mr Miles said one of the key elements of BPICs was to get more women to become tradies and apprentices. “It includes requirements, for example, that they have women’s toilets on site,” Mr Miles said.
He said state government employees would benefit from the infrastructure the workers were building, such as schools and hospitals.
Under the standard BPICs for construction projects, published by the government last month, workers will be given locked-in pay increases of 5 per cent, year on year, between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2027.
The 269-page document includes details of extra allowances for various situations such as being employed in the northwest Queensland mining city of Mount Isa (except if employed at Mount Isa Mines), working on a ladder higher than 8m above the nearest horizontal plane, and up to $1000 a week for workers who travel more than 50km to a site.
More Coverage
‘Affirmative consent model’ focus of national shift in rape laws
A review into Australia’s rape laws has praised a national shift towards affirmative consent models that require less ‘scrutiny’ of complainants in courts, and see greater prosecutions of nuanced sexual violence cases.
Job losses masked by care economy
More than 90,000 jobs have been shed in hospitality over the past year, but taxpayer-funded ‘care economy’ roles have masked the losses, driving a 375,000 jump in jobs being created.