Court stops CFMEU paying organisers’ fines

The construction union has been handed a six-figure fine and restrained from paying penalties for two of its officials.

The construction union has been handed a six-figure fine and restrained from paying court-ordered penalties for two of its officials in a victory for the building industry watchdog.

Judge Geoffrey Flick ordered the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union to pay $225,000 for the “abusive and misleading” behaviour of official Anthony Kong and ex-official Chad Bragdon, after a successful prosecution by the Fair Work Building and Construction agency.

Mr Kong, who refused to show a right-of-entry permit and gave the name “Steve Irwin” at a construction site at Sydney Domestic Airport in June 2013, was separately fined $27,500 and Mr Bragdon was ordered to pay $20,000.

The judgment compels the men to pay their own penalties, contrary to the union’s usual practice of paying officials’ fines. “An individual so reimbursed could act with impunity in full knowledge that his employing union conferred what could be seen as a licence for him to continue his past transgressions,” Justice Flick said.

The court, which imposed a fine of $175,000 but raised it because of the CFMEU’s “past history of contraventions”, rejected claims that the unions were on the site for safety reasons. Employment Minister Eric Abetz said the judgment bolstered the government’s case for resurrecting the Australian Building and Construction Commission, a stronger incarnation of FWBC.

“The government will shortly reintroduce the ABCC legislation into parliament ... I invite certain crossbench senators to note the court’s findings that ‘no conclusion can be reached that the motivation behind the conduct was to ensure the safety of employees on site’.

“To support the ABCC legislation would enhance work health and safety on construction sites.”

FWBC director Nigel Hadgkiss said he hoped the “significant” penalties would deter others from “flouting workplace laws”.

The federal court’s latest verdict comes after The Australian revealed this week the ACTU will lodge a complaint against the FWBC with the United Nation’s international labour organisation on behalf of the CFMEU.

Yesterday, conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs branded the complaint “a stunt from a movement that is determined to avoid scrutiny”.

“The CFMEU and ACTU should stop making excuses and start taking responsibility for the behaviour of some of their members,” said Brett Hogan, the Institute’s energy and innovation policy director.