Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Construction industry

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (18:58): (1148) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC and concerns the total contempt that John Setka and his CFMEU cronies are showing Premier Jacinta Allan and Victoria’s Labor government. We all know why Labor are beholden to union comrades, but the extent to which Setka is riding roughshod over Victoria’s government is worthy of a banana republic. Despite the Commonwealth placing the CFMEU’s construction arm into administration, John Setka has been waltzing onto worksites – government worksites – and revving up his union mob with apparent impunity. The Premier and all her ministers seem unable to respond to the humiliation. Hundreds of workers – well, they are supposed to be working anyway – paid by the Victorian taxpayer, were chanting ‘Johnny Setka, here to stay.’ Just who is governing here? Setka is baiting the government, and his very expletive-laden rant exposes their impotence further.

If we are being entirely honest, any opposition would enjoy this on one level. But it is actually a serious issue, because Setka is not just disrespecting his former friend Jacinta Allan or humiliating the Victorian Labor Party, he is disrespecting the office of Premier, the elected government and the Victorian people. Remarkably, the government does not even understand this is all quite legal. Multiplex did not approve Setka’s appearance, and the Premier thinks unauthorised access can be referred to the police. Minister Pearson went further, saying:

John Setka is not an elected official … he’s not an authorised person to be there …

…

If you don’t have a lawful purpose … on a Big Build site, the police will be called.

But the minister is wrong, embarrassingly wrong, as a result of legislation he administers, according to the most recent general order, specifically section 58 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. It states that any site, health and safety rep can at any time invite anyone they like onsite to assist them, so long as that person has knowledge of occupational health and safety. Former CFMEU official Setka would have done a related course so would need no permit to enter whatsoever, just the invitation of the health and safety rep. Section 70 states the employer must allow them, unless they can show the invitee has insufficient knowledge of occupational health and safety.

The action I seek from the minister is an amendment which closes the loophole and allows Setka’s embarrassing antics to be condemned to the history books. We need it. Elsewhere across Victoria other less high-profile banned CFMEU officials are already exploiting this loophole and boasting about it. The chaos of Setka’s rebellion is not just caused by Labor’s debt to the unions, it is caused by their incompetence in governing too.