CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

CFMEU fights Lendlease to fly flags

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 15-Apr-16

The removal of union flags from cranes at Lend Lease’s apartment project in Brisbane has triggered a strike by construction workers. Lawyers for the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union argued before the Fair Work Commission that Lend Lease’s action was an attack on "a workplace right", but the commission rejected this argument and ordered workers to return to work.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, MASTER BUILDERS OF AUSTRALIA, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS, PAINTERS’ AND PLASTERERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Judge slams CFMEU’s ‘thuggery’

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 10-Mar-16

Federal Circuit Court judge Salvatore Vasta has imposed a penalty of $A9,000 on union official Scott Vink. The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union must pay $A48,000. Justice Vasta said that Vink’s behaviour towards non-union members was "sheer thuggery". Vink was found to have breached the Fair Work Act when he verbally abused non-CFMEU members on a building site in Brisbane on 5 March 2014.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, FRANKIPILE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Building sector wants more women leaders

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 9-Feb-16

Australian companies are taking steps to reduce gender imbalance among their staff. Buildcorp has hired a number of women with a non-building industry background. Buildcorp principal Josephine Sukkar says there are now three women among 33 mid-level project managers and engineers. The Property Male Champions of Change program is meant to facilitate the entry of women into the sector.

CORPORATES
BUILDCORP COMMERCIAL PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT

CIMIC in $256m hostile bid for Sedgman

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 14-Jan-16

Australian-listed CIMIC Group is seeking full ownership of engineering firm Sedgman, in which it holds a 37 per cent stake. Sedgman’s shares closed at $A0.79 on 13 January 2016, compared with CIMIC’s cash offer of $A1.07 per share. Sedgman will commission an independent expert’s report before making a recommendation to shareholders regarding the bid. CIMIC launched the bid after Sedgman rejected a number of requests, which included a second board representative.

CORPORATES
CIMIC GROUP LIMITED – ASX CIM, SEDGMAN LIMITED – ASX SDM, GRUPO ACS, HOCHTIEF AG, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BARMINCO PTY LTD, AUSDRILL LIMITED – ASX ASL, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, DEVINE LIMITED – ASX DVN

Five legal battles to watch in 2016

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 13-Jan-16

Some high-profile legal disputes in the Australian property sector will be contested in court during 2016. A tenancy dispute between Roy Morgan Research and Impact Investment Group will return to court in February. The Gary Morgan-led market research firm was briefly locked out of its offices in Melbourne’s Collins Street in late December 2015, before a court ordered Impact to grant access to the building. Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union officials John Setka and Shaun Reardon will defend blackmail charges arising from an industrial dispute with Grocon that subsequently embroiled Boral. Sunland Group faces a damages claim by former employee Marcus Lee, while litigation is continuing between Grocon and APN Property Group.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, IMPACT INVESTMENT GROUP PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, GROCON PTY LTD, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, SUNLAND GROUP LIMITED – ASX SDG, APN PROPERTY GROUP LIMITED – ASX APD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, PRIME RETIREMENT AND AGED CARE PROPERTY TRUST, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

CFMEU safety breaches ‘neither isolated nor minor’

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 2 : 17-Sep-15

The construction union has been taken to court for failing to observe safety rules. Fair Work Building & Construction (FWBC) alleged in the Federal Circuit Court that union officials from the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union breached the safety rules on numerous occasions. FWBC director Nigel Hadgkiss will talk about the case at a safety conference on 17 September 2015.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Kane rages at sideshow to ban

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 28-Aug-15

Boral CEO Mike Kane says the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption is "absolutely necessary" for the recovery of an efficient construction market in Australia. Claiming the campaign against the royal commission’s head, Justice Dyson Heydon, was an unneccessary distraction, Kane say union officials operate outside the law. Boral has not delivered concrete in the Melbourne CBD for more than two years because of bans imposed by the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union, which Boral is suing in the Victorian Supreme Court.

CORPORATES
BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, GROCON PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ORICA LIMITED – ASX ORI, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Housing starts top 200,000 for first time

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 48 : 16-Jul-15

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that there were a record 203,760 dwelling commencements in the year to March 2015. This compares with 198,849 in the year to December 2014. Housing starts in Victoria and Queensland rose by around 20 per cent during the March quarter, although growth in New South Wales was just 1.9 per cent. The value of construction activity across all sectors of the industry totalled $A23.7 billion during the quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Building union facing penalties

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 8-Jul-15

The Fair Work Building & Construction inspectorate wants the Federal Court to impose financial penalties against the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and 21 of its officials. The case centres on industrial action at two construction sites in Queensland in 2013, which was aimed at compelling contractors to sign an enterprise agreement. The inspectorate has identified 822 separate alleged breaches of the law by the union and its officials.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

FIRB clears China Communications acquisition of John Holland

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 9-Apr-15

Leighton Holdings’ sale of defence contractor John Holland to China Communications Construction Company has been cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board. Federal Treasury Joe Hockey says the $A1bn deal does not raise any national interest concerns. John Holland is estimated to have undertaken some $A470m worth of construction contracts for the Department of Defence in 2014

CORPORATES
LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, JOHN HOLLAND PTY LTD, CHINA COMMUNICATIONS CONSTRUCTION GROUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE, THE STOCK EXCHANGE OF HONG KONG LIMITED, WORLD BANK, CHINA ROAD AND BRIDGE CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION