Demerit system to bust rogue union chiefs

Union officials who breach workplace laws would be banned from holding office under a new ­demerit-points system the government will adopt.

Attorney-General Christian Porter says proposed amendments, resulting from negotiations with Centre Alliance, meant penalty units would accumulate for breaches across three separate pieces of workplace legislation. Picture: AAP

Union officials who breach workplace laws would be banned from holding office under a new ­demerit-points system the government will adopt in a bid to get its union-busting Ensuring Integrity Bill through parliament as early as next week.

The new system, if passed, would mean unionists who attract just 180 penalty units for breaking a law could face a ban.

Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union officials could face bans for just one breach of civil laws, and other officials could be banned for multiple minor breaches. Bans would be imposed only after a successful application to the Federal Court.

The proposed amendments to the bill resulting from negotiations between Attorney-General Christian Porter and Centre ­Alliance mean union officials and unions would face bans and deregistration after accumulating penalty units for breaches across three separate pieces of workplace legislation.

Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick said he was “close to an agreement” on the bill, which significantly expands the grounds for banning union ­officials and deregistering unions. Senator Patrick had proposed the adoption of the demerit-points system.

With Labor and the Greens ­opposed, the government ­requires four of six crossbench votes to pass its legislation, which is part of the government’s industrial relations crackdown to rein in rogue unions.

The government said on Friday the bill could be brought on for a Senate vote as early as next Wednesday. One Nation is due to meet Mr Porter on Tuesday. A spokesman for senator Malcolm Roberts indicated on Friday that One Nation supported the ­demerit-points system in principle but had questions about how it would work in detail.

Senator Jacqui Lambie ­declined to comment but her ­office maintained her position that she would vote for the bill if CFMEU Victorian leader John Setka continued to refuse to ­resign.

Senator Patrick confirmed the 180-penalty-unit threshold for union officials under the deal with the Coalition. He said officials could be subject to a ban application for “multiple, minor breaches”. He said the proposed trigger for a deregistration application for a union was 900 penalty units but that figure was “ballpark” and yet to be agreed.

Under laws currently applying across the building and construction industry, conduct including coercion and unlawful industrial action attract 200 penalty units, meaning a CFMEU official would be exposed to a Federal Court ban application if found guilty of one civil breach.

“Many of the serious breaches that we see by members of the CFMEU — and which have prompted Federal Court judges to describe the union as one of the most recidivist offenders in Australia’s industrial landscape — can now attract 200 penalty units per contravention and so, under the proposed approach would, if the CFMEU officials continue to reoffend, give rise to potential ­disqualification ­action,” Mr Porter said.

The points system would apply to breaches under the Fair Work Act, the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act and the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act. The three pieces of legislation have multiple tiers of breaches that impose a range of penalty units according to the seriousness of the offence.

Under the current provisions of the Fair Work Act, ­serious contraventions attract 600 penalty units for an individual and 3000 for a registered ­organisation, while 60 penalty units for officials and 300 units for unions apply for offences including right-of-entry breaches, coercion and unlawful industrial action.

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said the points system would result in union officers being disqualified and unions shut down for minor paperwork breaches.

“A union where an administrative officer made a simple mistake in updating details of financial members of a union could see the union shut down,” she said. “Contrast this with corporate Australia where companies who file records late with ASIC face an $80 fine. Unions for the same mistake under existing laws face $63,000 fines and if this bill is passed could see leaders sacked and the union shut down.”

Mr Porter accused the ACTU of “complete” misrepresentation. “There is absolutely nothing in the current bill or the proposals recommended by the Centre Alliance report … which would lead to a union — or any registered organisation which includes employer associations — being shut down for a simple mistake made by an administrative officer,’’ he said.

“This is just not true and dents the credibility of their entire position on the bill. The fact the ACTU appear unwilling to recognise the importance of the role played by the courts under the bill is incredibly concerning — though it perhaps goes some way to explaining why they and some of their members have failed to respect its findings for so many years.”

Mr Porter said the government was prepared to back the demerit-points system and the existing penalty unit regime in the Fair Work Act provided a “sound basis for this type of ­approach”.

He said he was prepared to relinquish the ability of the minister to make applications to the Federal Court against registered organisations and their officials.