Voters back a ban as Bunnings stops sales of stone benchtops

Two-thirds of voters support a ban on engineered stone benchtops and would back the CFMEU imposing its own green-style bans if governments did not act.

CFMEU construction division secretary Zach Smith. Picture: Aaron Francis

Two-thirds of voters support a ban on engineered stone benchtops and would back the CFMEU imposing its own green-style bans if governments did not act, polling commissioned by the union finds.

The polling came as Bunnings announced it would stop selling engineered stone benchtops from December 31 following recommendations by Safe Work Australia and a campaign by the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union.

The union commissioned RedBridge to conduct the polling, which the CFMEU has subsequently sent to federal MPs to try to increase pressure on them to support a ban on engineered stone benchtops.

According to the poll of 1205 voters, 67 per cent supported a federal government ban.

In the event that the government did not act, 70 per cent backed the CFMEU implementing its own ban by urging its members not to work with the benchtops

CFMEU construction division national secretary Zach Smith said while all groups of Australians support a ban, non-tertiary educated blue-collar Australians were more supportive than those with university degrees.

“Blue-collar men and women are Labor’s heartland. Their interests are our reason for our party existing,” he told MPs.

“They are emphatically telling you that they want this killer stone banned. My members in construction are telling you they want this killer stone banned.

I implore you to listen and to respond.”

Redbridge’s director of strategy and analytics Kos Samaras said Australian politics “will be shaped by an increasingly volatile electorate”.

“That volatility is largely fuelled by a growing sentiment that political parties no longer make decisions based on what is right and wrong, or on who they represent and who they don’t represent,” he said.

“Based on our findings, it’s clear that engineered stone benches are viewed by Australians as dangerous.

“The sentiment is so strong that not banning this product may position the Labor government on the side of corporate Australia – that is, viewed by the voting public as working against the interests of working Australians.”

Safe Work Australia recommended governments ban the use of all engineered stone, irrespective of crystalline silica content, to protect the health and safety of workers.

Federal Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke has said further action is required to protect workers from the deadly disease and he will meet again this year with the state and territories to determine the next steps in a national response.

Bunnings director of merchandise Jen Tucker said state governments had indicated they would legislate a ban and “we are proactively making this decision to allow suppliers and customers time to prepare for a transition”.

The announcement follows protests by CFMEU members at Bunnings stores last weekend.

“The safety of our team and customers is our biggest priority, which is why aggressive behaviour shown by some CFMEU protesters towards some of our team at a Victorian store at the weekend was deeply disappointing,” Ms Tucker said.

“Our decision to stop selling engineered stone was directly in response to the reports released and the prospect of a ban on the sale in the near future.”

Mr Smith said “this is the end of the line for engineered stone … when even a massive corporation that until now has put profits over workers’ lives concedes it’s lost any remaining social licence to sell this killer stone, no government can squib it on a ban.”