WA Labor maintains links with CFMEU, bolsters laws
WA Labor will maintain links with the embattled CFMEU but proposed legislation, similar to national laws, will require union officials to be vetted before they enter work sites.
Premier Roger Cook said he “strongly” supports the federal government’s decision to place the union’s construction division into administration, following allegations it had been infiltrated by underworld figures.
“I was appalled at the criminal activity and misconduct in east divisions of the CFMEU,” he told reporters on Monday.
“It has been widely acknowledged the behaviour reported on the east coast has not been seen here in WA.”
Labor’s national executive has stopped accepting donations from the CFMEU’s construction division following the allegations of corruption and links to organised crime.
The party has suspended ties between the division and Labor’s NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmanian branches.
Mr Cook said the WA Labor Party would continue to accept donations from the CFMEU but they would be scrutinised and any allegations of misconduct and corruption by the union would be investigated.
Under the proposed amendments to WA’s industrial relations laws, union officials will have to pass a fit and proper person test to enter work sites.
The WA Industrial Relations Commission will oversee the process and be given new powers to review permit holders if new allegations or evidence comes to light in certain circumstances.
The changes if passed would bring WA into line with the existing test for Right of Entry permits in the federal industrial relations system contained in the Commonwealth Fair Work Act.
When assessing if a union official meets the criteria of a fit and proper person, the commission will consider a range of factors.
These include whether the official has been convicted of certain offences, if they have ever been ordered to pay a penalty under an industrial law and any other matters the commission considers relevant.
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