Vic: Baillieu challenged on bans

The decision to ban Lend Lease from Victorian government work could end up in the courts, with senior lawyers saying the builder would have a serious legal claim, while unions have also flagged a challenge.

CFMEU national construction secretary Dave Noonan attacked the decision and said it would reduce competition and was an attempt to appease right-wing forces in the Liberal Party.

He said the union was yet to see a decision from the Victorian government but would look at it ''with a view to ensuring the rights of our members are properly protected''.

Building unions believe the government's code is vulnerable to legal challenge. The state code allows the government to ban builders from bidding for government-funded work if they sign deals with unions that do not comply. The rules, which took effect from July, apply to deals signed in the private and public sectors.

The Lend Lease deal includes a number of likely breaches, including the flying of union flags, restrictions on outside labour and dictating the minimum pay rates of sub-contractors. Lend Lease subsidiaries such as Abigroup and Baulderstone could also be banned from July 1 next year.

Opposition spokesman for industrial relations, Tim Pallas, labelled the policy full of ''dross and irrelevance''. ''You don't get productivity when you don't have work, and this government has failed to provide employment opportunity by getting on with the job and providing the construction industry with the capacity to go about its business and build things,'' he said.

Corrs workplace relations group head Val Gostencnik said Lend Lease would have a ''seriously arguable'' case as it had signed a deal that is allowed under federal law. By the state refusing to engage it, that could be a breach of the Fair Work Act's general protections provisions.

University of Adelaide law expert Andrew Stewart has previously said the code could be vulnerable to challenge under the Fair Work Act.

Read more