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AREEA in the Media: Public Interest Test

Cargo container ship at harbour

Legislation is expected to be tabled this week to put a public interest test on the proposed ‘super’ union merger of the CFMEU-MUA, according to an article in, The Australian which featured commentary from AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott AM.

The newspaper reported that Turnbull Government is believed to be preparing a Bill to amend the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act and apply a public interest test for union mergers.

It was reported that the new legislation would enable the Fair Work Commission to consider the unions’ record of lawlessness and whether the merger is in the public interest, and, seek to make it easier to deregister unions that continually breach workplace laws.

The Australian Financial Review reported that the merger may already be unlawful under current laws due to the unions’ ongoing court battles over breaches of the Fair Work Act.

The article, Super union already facing legal hurdles highlighted AREEA’s challenge to the unions’ proposed amalgamation based on arcane provisions in the Registered Organisations Act which require the commission to be satisfied there is no pending litigation involving the parties to amalgamation.

The paper quoted AREEA’s Director of Workplace Relations stating the resources industry is concerned about the amalgamation as it will give the militant unions’ greater capacity to inflict economic damage across the supply chain, risking the stability of the supply chain “from pit to port”. It highlighted the argument that more than 40 outstanding civil penalty cases, which are currently against the unions for industrial breaches, prevent the proposed amalgamation.

As recently as today, the Coalition party room had approved the introduction of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring Integrity) Bill 2017. Given the comments of Prime Minister Turnbull late last week reiterating the Government’s election commitment to introduce a public interest test, it is likely that this Bill will be looking to address these long held commitments.

With this Bill likely to be introduced in the parliament during this sitting, AREEA will be closely monitoring this space and will be providing updates to AREEA Members in due course.

 

 

 

 

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