ScoMo is determined to bring the unions to heel.
But can he buy Pauline and Jacqui's support to pass the Bill ? Will Pauline chuck another menopausal ? Will Jacqui ask for too much ? Will the CFMMEU offer Pauline more than ScoMo ? Oh the suspense and excitement !!!
Union-busting bill reintroduced to Parliament with clause for a review
By Dana McCauley December 4, 2019 — 4.59pm
The Morrison government will review its union-busting legislation after two years if the bill becomes law, after backing a Greens amendment aimed at protecting ordinary union members.
Attorney-General Christian Porter reintroduced the Ensuring Integrity Bill to the lower house on Wednesday, saying it "incorporates a provision requiring the operation of the bill to be reviewed in the near future", inserted by the Greens in the Senate with government support.
Christian Porter has amended his union-busting bill to include a review of its operations.CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN
Mr Porter told Parliament the bill, which failed to pass the Senate last week after One Nation and Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie blocked it, would deter "repeated law breaking" by unions like the militant Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union.
"It is vital to note that nothing in the bill prevents a registered organisation from exercising its rights under the law to represent workers, including investigating underpayment issues or acting on work health and safety concerns," he said.
The government, which needs either One Nation or Senator Lambie to pass the bill in the Senate, is renewing its efforts to secure crossbench support before bringing it to a vote next year.
The review of the bill would examine whether the Registered Organisations Commissioner "acted as a model litigant" in proceedings launched against unions and officials, and whether the ROC "focused on matters that relate to systematic patterns of conduct" and not trivial breaches.
It would also consider "whether there is a need for further amendments ... relating to the administration of dysfunctional organisations and a public interest test for amalgamations of organisations".
One Nation has raised concerns the bill lowers the threshold for "dysfunctional" unions to be placed into administration.
Senator Lambie said on Wednesday the government had not reached out to talk to her about her proposed amendments to the bill, which she says will enable CFMMEU Victorian secretary John Setka to be brought to account while protecting ordinary workers.
The bill reintroduced in the lower house includes the amendments negotiated with Centre Alliance and One Nation, whose leader Pauline Hanson blindsided the government by voting against it despite her amendments being included.
Senator Hanson, whose party is facing a state election in Queensland next year, has rejected claims she struck a deal with the CFMMEU to block the bill.
Labor's industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said the Morrison government was "seeking to impose standards on unions that he refuses to impose on banks or members of his own Cabinet".
"He isn't proposing to do anything about the 23 million law breaches by a major bank - but wants to power to shut down unions for three paperwork breaches," Mr Burke said.
Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O'Neil said the union movement "will continue to fight this bill and this government until it is defeated."
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson said the union bill was "too important to abandon" and would tackle "threats of violence and intimidation from a lawless minority within the union movement".
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal ... 53gvl.html
