THE COALITION government’s anti-worker Inquisition, also known as the Australian Building and Construction Commission, has suffered yet another embarrassing courtroom defeat.
After a wait of more than three years for a decision, the Federal Circuit Court has tossed out charges against the CFMEU and others relating to John Holland’s troubled QUT project at Kelvin Grove in late 2014.
CFMEU Queensland and NT secretary Michael Ravbar described the protracted legal action as “yet another example of over-reach and legal thuggery by an organisation that displays cavalier disregard when it comes to wasting both the courts’ time and taxpayers’ money.”
The court found that the action brought by the ABCC failed to provide evidence to support the claim that CFMEU officials had directly caused a series of unlawful work stoppages at the site.
“As the court ruled, participating in a union meeting, as allowed by the Enterprise Agreement, does not constitute unprotected industrial action,” Mr Ravbar said.
“This action was baseless from the very beginning, and the ABCC manifestly failed to prove their case, yet we’ve been tied up in the courts for more than four years while this farce played out.”
“It is yet another example of the industrial lawfare being waged by a Coalition government more interesting in passing billion dollar tax breaks to its corporate mates than the welfare and working conditions of ordinary Australians.”
“How many more failed court actions will this paralegal arm of the Liberal Party pursue before we draw a line under this vindictive waste of time and money?”
/Public Release.
