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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-06-08 Daily Xml
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Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (15:19): In recent weeks, we have seen yet again more news of judgements made against the CFMEU and its officials in relation to illegal behaviour on building sites around the country. On Friday 22 April, the Federal Court found the CFMEU guilty and fined 15 CFMEU officials a total of $937,100, stemming from unlawful conduct on building sites across Adelaide in 2014.

More recently, on 31 May it was reported that the Federal Court found the CFMEU in Adelaide and its secretary, Mr Cartledge, and assistant secretary, Mr McDermott, guilty of making threats against management at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital site. Mr McDermott threatened, saying, 'If you try anything, there will be Armageddon,' while Mr Cartledge threatened, 'All hell will break loose and we will take this national.'

Indeed, as far back as 2014, the Fair Work Building and Construction director, Nigel Hadgkiss, made applications to the Fair Work Commission to revoke Mr Cartledge's right of entry permit after he was found to have breached right of entry laws after he had a physical altercation with a site manager on a Cbus construction site in Flinders Street in March 2014. The response from Mr Cartledge, as reported in the media, was not one of contrition; it was to blame everybody else, including the FWBC director, and claim that there was some conspiracy and bias against unions.

These words that he uttered are not words of somebody who was repentant about the illegal behaviour, the threats, the intimidation and the physical violence that the CFMEU uses as tactics on building sites around South Australia. These are the words of somebody who is likely to continue with the same behaviour that has seen multiple convictions in recent years. What does this mean for our broader economy? FWBC director, Mr Hadgkiss, said it best when he said:

…these are yet more examples of the kind of contempt for the rule of law which exists in Australia's building and construction industry. This kind of coercive behaviour comes at an enormous cost to the industry and national economy.

This behaviour also comes at a cost to every single South Australian, as much of the work is being conducted on sites that have had significant levels of government money expended on them. Specifically, I am talking about the Adelaide Oval and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital which, by the way, is currently $600 million over budget.

Why is this an issue for the Attorney-General? This is an issue because Mr Cartledge sits on the government's Construction Industry Long Service Leave Board. The board is governed by a state act with the following clause:

The Governor may remove a member of the Board from office if the member…is guilty of neglect of duty or dishonourable conduct…

I put to this house that if this sort of behaviour on worksites and the number of convictions made against the CFMEU and Mr Cartledge in particular do not constitute dishonourable behaviour or dishonourable conduct then I do not know what does. We also see that on this board Mr Cartledge only attended six of the 11 meetings of the board and, when he was not there, he deputised Darren Roberts to attend. Darren has also been found guilty of illegal behaviour on construction sites.

If the Attorney refuses to sack Mr Cartledge and Mr Roberts, then he is saying that their behaviour on worksites is okay. He is saying that this does not constitute dishonourable conduct. If he does not take action then he is tacitly endorsing the added cost and disruption that these behaviours cause and, indeed, is tacitly endorsing the extra hit to the state's budget that comes from the cost blowouts on infrastructure projects as a result.

All South Australians need to abide by the law; this is what makes us a civilised society. All South Australians also have the right to feel safe at work, whether they be employees, employers or management. The government has rightly called out those who do not abide by the law. They have taken action against outlaw motorcycle gangs, they have taken action against the perpetrators of domestic violence and they have taken action against the perpetrators of sexual abuse. It is now time that they call out the illegal behaviour on building sites and take action, lest they be seen merely as hypocrites bowing to their union paymasters.

Whilst in South Australia it seems that the CFMEU donated $52,000 in 2008 to the state Labor Party, in the last two years alone the CFMEU has donated $110,000 to the federal Labor Party. We here call on the Attorney-General to do the right thing and take action, lest he be seen as being complicit in the illegal actions of the CFMEU.

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