CFMEU trial likely to start at election time

A high-profile trial involving construction union secretary Michael O’Connor may coincide with a federal election.

CFMEU national secretary Michael O'Connor faces a lengthy Federal Circuit Court trial.

A high-profile and lengthy trial involving construction union national secretary Michael O’Connor and other senior unionists looks likely to coincide with a federal election campaign that could pivot on industrial relatio­ns and union governance.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, its NSW branch and 13 officials, includin­g Mr O’Connor and state branch secretary Brian Parker, face allegations in the Federal Circuit Court over conducting “an orchestrated campaign of unlawful blockades and work disruptions” at Barangaroo in Sydney in February last year.

The suit brought by the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate — which names some organisers and officials implicated in the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption — is likely to take place in the second half of the year, the court heard yesterday.

Judge Nicholas Manousar­idis said yesterday he expected a “lengthy” trial. Counsel for the agency, Yaseen Shariff, agreed and told the court “every fact and every legal issue” was likely to come into dispute.

The case, which also names imprisoned organiser Luke Collier as a respondent, provoked fury from the CFMEU when it was announced. Construction division secretary Dave Noonan, who is not alleged to have been involved, declared the suit “a bullshit allegation made for entirely­ political purposes”, adding that the union would “vigorously defend” the charges.

The CFMEU has also complained to the Commonwealth Ombudsman over “the timing and the conduct” of the matter, claiming the case was built to underscore the Coalition’s fervent­ lobbying to convince crossbench senators to support the restoration of regul­ator the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

The trial comes after the CFMEU was subject to an extraordinary judgment and penalties in Brisbane yesterday.

Federal Circuit Court judge Salvatore Vasta found “behaviour does not get much worse than the present case” and deemed official Scott Vink to have engaged in “sheer thuggery’’ at the Pacific Fair shopping centre redevelopment site in Queensland in March 2014.

The CFMEU was subject to a $48,000 fine and Mr Parker, who is named in the NSW suit, was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider charges for alleged perjury and is under investigation by the state government for breaking rules on charitable donations.

Darren Greenfield, also named in the suit, was accused of taking bribes.