CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

National bosses side with Setka, snub ACTU

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 20-Jun-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has backed embattled Victorian state secretary John Setka. The union has released a joint statement by its construction division’s national secretary Dave Noonan and president Jade Ingham, in which they state that Setka has the full support of the CFMMEU’s construction and general division. They also stated that Setka had not denigrated anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty during a meeting of the union’s national executive. The ACTU maintains that Setka must resign.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Builder insolvencies soar, subbies call for safety net

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 6-Jun-19

Data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission highlights the impact of the slowing residential market on the construction industry. Some 153 building firms across Australia were placed in administration during March, including 64 in New South Wales. Subcontractors have backed a 2017 proposal to establish deemed statutory trusts, which would ‘ringfence’ payments to subcontractors for projects worth more than $1m.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, SUBCONTRACTORS ALLIANCE, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, SCHIAVELLO GROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE OMBUDSMAN

ABCC targets building union leadership

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 10-May-19

The Australian Building & Construction Commission will allege that the construction industry union breached workplace laws in trying to force Botany Cranes to sign an enterprise agreement. The ABCC has launched legal action against four Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union officials, including New South Wales secretary Darren Greenfield. Amongst other things, they are alleged to have threatened to damage the company’s equipment and stage a secondary boycott if it did not sign the agreement.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, BOTANY CRANES, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BOOM LOGISTICS LIMITED – ASX BOL, WGG CRANE GROUP

CFMEU’s election windfall

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 18 & 19 : 15-Apr-19

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined some $7.9m in total since 2016, due to legal action instigated by the Australian Building & Construction Commission. The CFMMEU will benefit significantly if Labor wins the federal election and pushes ahead with plans to scrap the ABCC. The militant union and its officials would face much lower financial penalties for breaches of the Fair Work Act, while Labor would also abolish the national construction code. Meanwhile, employers’ groups are not unduly concerned about a potential conflict of interest for shadow workplace relations minister Brendan O’Connor, whose brother is the national president of the CFMMEU.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Builders at risk as approvals decline

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Original article by Michael Owen
The Australian – Page: 19 : 14-Mar-19

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that there was a year-on-year decline of 3.2 per cent in the trend estimate for total building approvals nationwide in January, while the value of total building approvals fell by 1.5 per cent. Justin Lokhorst of the ABS notes that the trend estimate for total building approvals has fallen to its lowest level since May 2013. The data also shows that Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory were the only jurisdictions that did not record a decline in building approval values in the last 12 months.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, URBAN TASKFORCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, MASTER BUILDERS’ ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, CUBIC HOMES, JML HOME CONSTRUCTIONS, ODM GROUP, OAS GROUP, PLATINUM FINE HOMES

Housing slide threatens surplus hopes

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 28-Feb-19

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that construction activity fell by a higher-than-expected 3.1 per cent nationwide in the December quarter, with housing construction falling by 3.6 per cent. The decline in construction work is likely to weigh on GDP growth for the quarter, which may in turn affect economic forecasts in the federal government’s April 2019 Budget. Growth forecasts had already been scaled back in the mid-year Budget update.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Cash economy investigation reaps $2.7b from builders

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 13-Feb-19

The Australian Taxation Office has used data matching technology to recover some $2.7bn worth of tax revenue associated with payments to contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry. The crackdown on the cash economy has targeted contractors who fail to declare all income or use false Australian Business Numbers to avoid tax liabilities. The crackdown has also targeted businesses such as cleaning and courier firms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Guilty Gregg confronts jail time

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 16 : 12-Dec-18

Leighton Holdings’ former CFO Peter Gregg will be sentenced on 31 January after being convicted on two counts of falsifying the construction firm’s accounts. Gregg had pleaded not guilty to the charges of breaching section 1307(1) of the Corporations Act. Each offence carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail or a fine of $11,000. The case centred on a steel supply deal with a United Arab Emirates-based company in 2011 which involved two payments worth a combined $US15m. Gregg was Leighton’s CFO until 2014; he resigned as CEO of Primary Health Care in early 2017 to contest the charges.

CORPORATES
LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED, ASIAN GLOBAL PROJECTS AND TRADING FZE, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX PRY, CIMIC GROUP LIMITED – ASX CIM, LEIGHTON WELSPUN CONTRACTORS PRIVATE LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, DISTRICT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Union beats $51k fine for shorts call

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 14-Nov-18

The Federal Circuit Court’s decision to fine the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s for failing to comply with a dress code for workers on a building site has been overturned on appeal. The CFMMEU was fined $51,000 over strike action after a project manager ordered construction workers to wear trousers and long-sleeved shirts at the Newcastle site. Union organiser Pomare Auimatagi was fined $7,500. The Federal Court has ruled that the fines were "manifestly excessive".

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, JOHN HOLLAND PTY LTD

ABCC cracks down on CFMEU right of entry

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 12-Nov-18

The Australian Building & Construction Commission is cracking down on Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union officials who try to exploit "right of entry" loopholes. One such official, Brendan Murphy, is facing thousands of dollars in fines after the Federal Court found that he had gained access to a construction site at a Victorian school by signing its guest registry. He refused to show his right of entry permit to the contractor’s site manager, and then stated that he was going to shut the site down over safety concerns. Federal Court Justice Debbie Mortimer said Murphy’s safety concerns were "contrived", and that he did not care about right of entry laws.

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