Catherwood LibraryILR School

Just 15 days before the Australian federal election to determine all members of the 45th Parliament, Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has announced the government’s plan to adopt several recommendations made by the trade union royal commission. The most prominent of these recommendations being the granting of permission to the courts to remove union officials from power when they have been deemed consistent offenders of workplace laws and the banning of “corrupting benefits”, secret payments exchanged between union representatives and employers. Cash has expressed that these measures are purely logical and indicate the government’s alignment with worker interests in ousting corrupt union officials and preventing under-the-table dealings that deprive workers of their full rights. However, Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union construction national secretary Dave Noonan has made it clear that he feels that government officials do not understand that workers elect their officials and courts should have no say in who is in union leadership.