CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA – REGULATION

Fair Work Act changes are a world of pain that hurts housing

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Original article by Prue Goward
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 18-Feb-25

Changes to the Fair Work Act as a result of the federal government’s changes to industrial relations laws are having a negative impact on many business sectors, of which the housing industry is just one. The main change to the Act that affects the housing sector is in section 15, which redefines subcontractors earning less than $175,000 a year as employees. Once a subcontractor is defined as an employee by one company, it must be defined as an employee for all the companies it does work for, which could be half a dozen. These changes will result in more expensive housing, and possibly no construction industry at all, given the growth of innovations such as refabricated housing that could be brought in from other countries.

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ABCC defends focus on pursuing unions

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 23-Jan-20

Labor senator Tony Sheldon has accused the Australian Building & Construction Commission of unfairly targeting unions, while failing to give sufficient attention to the unlawful conduct of employers. Data from the ABCC shows that it has spent $3.179m on legal proceedings against unions, officials and employees since 2016, and just $164,336 on legal action against employers. The ABCC has successfully prosecuted the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy some 86 times over this period.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ABCC pursues workers on strike over union flags

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 22-Jul-19

The Australian Building & Construction Commission is prosecuting 66 members of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union for engaging in unlawful industrial action. It is alleged that they failed to return to work after a meeting with CFMMEU delegates at a construction site in Brisbane. Amongst other things, the meeting is said to have discussed the issue of union flags being removed from union sites. The CFMMEU and its officials are not subject to the legal action. The workers each face a fine of up to $42,000.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, ACTU

Fix crisis in building industry

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Original article by Brad Norington, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 15-Jul-19

Private building certifiers are struggling to secure professional indemnity insurance in the wake of the problems with cracks in apartment buildings and inflammable cladding that have afflicted the construction industry. Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn says the issue has the potential to see the sector grind to halt, and the MBA and other industry groups have called on the federal government to intervene to fix the crisis.

CORPORATES
MASTER BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION

Union fines hit $4m as boss put workers ‘in harm’s way’

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 7-Jun-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined $137,000 over the conduct of Richard Hassett, the head of its Tasmanian branch. The Federal Court ruled that he had unlawfully entered a Devonport building site and repeatedly attempted to disrupt the operation of a crane. Hassett was fined $22,000, while the CFMMEU has now been fined $4.1m in total for breaching workplace laws so far in 2018-19.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

CFMEU pushing closed shop ahead of possible Labor win

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 23-Apr-19

The New South Wales branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has declined to comment on claims that it has adopted a ‘no ticket, no start’ policy at construction sites in Sydney. The Master Builders Association has raised concerns about the practice, with executive director Brian Seidler fearing that the push for compulsory union membership on building sites will spread to other states. The federal government’s building code – which Labor wants to abolish – prohibits ‘no ticket, no start’ arrangements.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

CFMEU charges in three states

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Apr-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union is currently the subject of 38 separate court cases launched by the Australian Building & Construction Commission. The militant union has already been fined some $3.29m so far in the 2018-19 financial year. The ABCC’s current cases against the CFMMEU include allegations that it engaged in unlawful industrial action and breached right-of-entry laws at a building site in Victoria. A union official is also alleged to have racially abused a construction site supervisor in Perth. Labor intends to abolish the ABCC if it wins the federal election.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Workers warned over approval to protest

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 5-Apr-19

ACTU secretary Sally McManus claims that nationwide rallies to be held on 10 April are political protests rather than industrial action. The ACTU hopes the anti-Coalition rallies will attract 250,000 workers. Meanwhile, the Australian Building & Construction Commission has warned that building industry workers risk fines if they take time off work to attend the rallies without written permission from their employer.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, ONESTEEL LIMITED, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Manifestation of a system in trouble

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 25-Feb-19

Construction lawyer Bronwyn Weir says more building failures similar to the cracks that impacted Sydney’s Opal Tower are inevitable if serious reforms are not implemented by the states. Cracks in the apartment tower led to its residents being evacuated on Christmas Eve, with some still unable to return to their homes. Weir says developers and builders have no real interest in whether what they construct will perform over the long term, and they are not being held accountable for any actions that might negatively impact future owners.

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Opal Tower a sign of industry trouble, says expert

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Original article by Anthony Klan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 21-Jan-19

Construction expert David Chandler says he was not surprised about the structural problems that have afflicted Sydney’s Opal Tower. Chandler, who is a former CEO of Fletcher Construction Group and who chaired the inquiry into the flawed $16.2 billion school halls national building project, says little seems to have been done about the problems with building quality that he pointed out almost 10 years ago. He says much of the problem is due to state building regulators lacking the will and the budget resources to properly enforce building standards, along with building ministers being too easily swayed by lobbying from the construction industry.

CORPORATES
FLETCHER CONSTRUCTION LIMITED