The embattled CFMEU is set to be placed into administration for at least three years, after federal parliament signed off on a crackdown of the union.
Laws giving the relevant minister powers to appoint an administrator to the union and slap life bans on errant officials passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, after the government and opposition agreed to a deal.
The legislative move came after allegations of criminal conduct and links with organised crime within the construction union.
The union criticised the law, saying it stripped members of the right to a fair process and signalled it could challenge the bill in court.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the changes would help to clean the union up.
“Working in construction is hard, dangerous work, and those workers need a strong, clean union to represent them,” he told parliament on Tuesday.
“There’s no place for criminality or corruption in the construction industry.
“And bullying, thuggery and intimidation is unacceptable in any workplace … this is the strongest action available in these circumstances.”
The administration period can last up to five years under the law and officials found guilty of crimes would be banned for life and unable to become bargaining agents at other registered organisations without holding a fit-and-proper-person certificate.
Those who attempt to frustrate or obstruct the process could face hefty fines and two years’ prison.
The administrator has assured the opposition the union would not spend money on political campaigns or donate during the takeover.
The criminal allegations are being taken seriously and people had been stood down pending legal proceedings, but they remained untested in court, CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith said.
“Until allegations have been tested by the legal system, people and organisations are entitled to a fair process,” he said.
“The deal cut by Labor and the coalition is as shameful as it is unnecessary – an act of political expediency at the expense of fundamental tenets of Australian democracy and our legal system.”
While the coalition has backed the reforms, opposition frontbencher Paul Fletcher said the criminal allegations had come about because the government had abolished the construction sector watchdog.
“The consequence has been very detrimental impacts on the Australian economy, on the people of Australia and on regulation, on the rule of law in the construction sector,” he said.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said the bill contained unprecedented measures.
“When civil liberties groups make the point that this does threaten some of the fundamental principles of the rule of law and the way that processes are usually followed in this country, we should listen to them,” he told parliament.
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties has said the powers in the bill were far-reaching and established a dangerous precedent.
Workplace Minister Murray Watt took aim at the Greens for not supporting the amendments.
“The Greens were the only party in the parliament that decided to side with John Setka and the organised crime and bikie elements around the CFMEU rather than taking this side of the Australian people,” he told the ABC.
“Construction workers deserve to have a strong and effective union, but it’s got to be a clean union.”
