Published: 7 Apr 2016
A Federal Court Judge has slammed a lawsuit brought by the Fair Work Building Commission (FWBC) as an “abuse of process.”
CFMEU National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan said “this confirms what the union has been saying for some time. Under Nigel Hadgkiss, the FWBC is not an impartial regulator. Rather, it is a partisan and political operation. ”
In 2013 John Holland sued the union. In 2014, that suit was settled by all parties. In spite of this, in 2015, the FWBC launched its own case dealing with the same matters.
The CFMEU sought a ruling that the FWBC’s case was an abuse of process because it dealt primarily with matters that had been settled almost two years prior. The court agreed with the CFMEU, with Judge Rangiah stating that: “The current proceeding is an abuse of process to the extent that it relates to the matters that were the subject of the previous proceeding.”
“These abuses of process, and faulty accusations are the very same cases that are being held up by Workplace Relations Michaelia Cash and Malcolm Turnbull as justification for their draconian ABCC legislation”.
“The Liberal Party’s pet newspaper, the Australian has run article after article counting the trumped up charges brought by the FWBC against CFMEU officials.”
“Nigel Hadgkiss needs to explain why the FWBC is reviving old, settled cases at the expense of the Australian people.”
“Questions have got to be asked about the legitimacy of this organisation”.
“We’ve got a situation here where a taxpayer funded organisation is running cases against the union purely to prop up the faulty legislative agenda of the Liberal Government,” he said.
“Nigel Hadgkiss is using taxpayer’s money to fund a crusade against the CFMEU, and it’s getting him nowhere. He might as well resign and run for Liberal pre-selection.”
“Running this case was not in the public interest. This case only served the interests of the Liberal Party. If that’s not the hallmark of a corruption of public office, I don’t know what is.”