The Australian Building and Construction Commission’s admission that it has overstepped its legal authority in illegally interrogating hundreds of Australians is yet another reason for the Federal Government to scrap the flawed body and end its attacks on workers’ rights.

Listen to Dave Noonan's comment and ABCC reply on AM today.

Under the ABCC’s draconian powers it can issue “Section 52” notices which allow the ABCC to question people in secret hearings. Those affected are not allowed to discuss the questioning publicly and do not have a choice of legal representation.

However answers to Parliamentary questions on notice have revealed the ABCC has overstepped these powers by repeatedly using defective notices to question people.

The answers reveal that every Section 52 notice issued by the ABCC prior to November 24 last year was defective and not legally binding – a total of 203 defective notices.

CFMEU National Secretary Construction Dave Noonan said Section 52 notices had little purpose but to intimidate workers and target union members unfairly.

He said that the CFMEU was seeking legal advice on the matter, and called for the ABCC to issue an unconditional apology to the victims of the Section 52 notices.

“The ABCC has powers beyond those of ASIO or any other investigative agency. Yet it has now admitted it routinely overstepped those powers in its attempts to intimidate workers,” Mr Noonan said.

“Effectively the ABCC has falsely imprisoned over 200 people in what were usually just fishing expeditions that serve solely to justify the ABCC’s existence.

 “This farce is proof that the incompetent ABCC has been a waste of time and money and should be wound up immediately.

 “It took the case of Ark Tribe, who in 2010 successfully beat a charge of failing to attend an interview, to show that the ABCC had been misusing its powers.

 “Workers who were wrongly subjected to the stress of a secret interrogation  will be outraged to learn that the ABCC had used flawed notices to force them to answer questions.

“It took the Parliamentary process to drag this information out of the ABCC, so I suspect those workers will be waiting a long time for an apology.

 “Construction workers just want the same rights as other workers. They do not deserve to be the subject of these unfair powers.”

“All workers should be asking whether the shambolic ABCC represents value for their tax dollars or an attack on their rights.”

In the answers to questions on notice submitted by Senator Doug Cameron the ABCC has admitted it took no “remedial steps” in relation to Section 52 notices issued prior to the Tribe case.