Independent CFMEU administrator appointed by Tony Burke; RNC 2024 to go ahead; joke about stubborn D Trump criticized

Simon Birmingham, shadow foreign secretary and senior Liberal MP, suggested the Coalition could call for a ban on people with criminal records serving as union delegates if Labour needed their support to legislate for the establishment of a CFMEU administrator.

Employment Minister Tony Burke said today the Government would seek to intervene in any application by the Fair Work Commission to the Federal Court to appoint a CFMEU administrator. If legal issues prevent the regulator from taking that action, he would legislate “to remove any impediments to the appointment of administrators in all areas of the CFMEU’s construction division,” Burke said.

On the ABC Afternoon briefing Birmingham was asked on the programme whether the coalition would support such legislation if necessary.

“We would always reserve the right to such legislation, but we support a tough approach against the CFMEU,” he replied. “Our concern is that this is the weakest possible measure by the Albanian government at this time.”

Burke has said any bill would be narrowly drafted and focused on the powers the CFMEU administration needs. However, ABC presenter Greg Jennett asked Birmingham whether the Opposition would support introducing a ban on union delegates with criminal records if the Labor Party was forced to negotiate a bill with the Coalition.

In response, Birmingham said:

We actually tried to get something similar into the recent Industry Bill that went through Parliament and once again the Labour Party was forced into allowing the textiles division of the CFMEU to leave.

At the beginning of the year they voted against it. But in the last parliamentary session they agreed to do it anyway.

We proposed that someone who has committed ten or more crimes should be disqualified from holding office. That is a fairly generous hurdle, and the government voted against it anyway.