Public to fund assault on civil rights

In its budget the Federal Government has tripled the funding for the organisation set up to harass building workers and take away their civil rights.

CFMEU Construction National Secretary John Sutton said the Government is prepared to waste $40 million over the next year on these organisations to rob building workers of their rights, the equivalent of three thousand operations in public hospitals or one thousand new public school teachers.

"Already we have seen the Building Industry Taskforce run a series of discredited court cases, drawing judicial censure at their heavy handed tactics, including the secret taping of workers and employers," Mr Sutton said.

Not many Australians realise that they are funding a body that will have the powers to:

• personally sue any worker who takes part in political or industrial action
• allow investigators to suspend a person's right to silence during investigations (from June 23), and
• give the ABCC powers to launch retrospective prosecutions (flagged by Kevin Andrews).

"These powers are an assault not just on construction workers, but on all Australian workers," Mr Sutton said.

read more