Coalition and Greens delay bill on CFMEU

Passage of Labor’s bill to place CFMEU’s construction divisions into administration will be delayed until at least next week.

Labor’s bill to put the CFMEU construction divisions into administration will be delayed. Picture: David Clark

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Passage of Labor’s bill to place the CFMEU’s construction divisions into administration will be delayed until at least next week after the Coalition and Greens voted to stop the Senate passing the changes, sparking criticism by the construction industry.

The government sought to bring the bill on for a vote after agreeing to new amendments but the opposition refused to support it without more changes, including a minimum three-year administration period, a legislated ban on Construction Forestry and Maritime Employees Union donations and a requirement that the administrator appear before Senate estimates to be questioned by Coalition senators.

Civil Contractors Federation chief executive Nicholas Proud called on the Coalition to pass the bill, declaring Thursday’s dis­appointing decision would “send a shiver down the back of workers and employers across the country because they know that the CFMEU now has weeks to mobilise against this legislation”.

“We are frustrated by this unnecessary delay which could stall this administration until September, and the missed opportunity to implement these necessary reforms is astounding,” he said.

“Our message to those that oppose this bill is clear: this is not the time for delays or indecision. Our business owners and workers deserve safer and more respectful workplaces free of union bullying, and the failure to pass this ­legislation is a betrayal of that commitment.”

Ahead of the proposed Senate vote on Thursday, the government agreed to changes, including extending the administration period from three to five years and requiring the administrator to report to parliament every six months.

The government also agreed the minister be prevented from changing the scheme of administration without a request from the administrator; retrospective civil penalties for avoidance behaviour applying from July 1; and an internal complaints procedure with complainant protections.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said the opposition call for every branch to be put in administration for a minimum three years meant the administrator would have to spend time on branches that were corruption-free rather than targeting their efforts at branches like Victoria, which had “massive problems”.

He said the government had already agreed that donations to any political party by a branch under administration would be banned, while the bid to get the administrator to appear before Senate estimates was about Michaelia Cash’s “desperate desire to get her face on TV going after people in the way she always does”.

Senator Cash, the opposition employment spokeswoman, said the bill was “ too weak to bring the rogue union under control”, and the government should support the Coalition amendments when the bill comes back into the Senate next week.

“Minister Murray Watt has put his head in the sand and refuses to budge on key Coalition amendments that would greatly strengthen the bill and that stakeholders have made clear will make the scheme more robust,” she said. “This whole mess is of Labor’s making and they want to rush through a quick fix which is not fit for purpose.”

A Greens spokesperson said Labor’s “shambolic approach has already seen them amend their own bill several times, and we are worried about even more flaws in this rushed bill. We’ve put our concerns to the government and will continue discussions, but Labor seems intent on rushing flawed legislation through rather than getting it right.”