The not guilty verdict against Adelaide construction worker Ark Tribe has presented an opportunity to the Federal Government to close the book on a sorry chapter of Australian industrial history, the CFMEU said today.

Tribe was charged with failing to attend a compulsory Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) interrogation in 2008 and faced up to six months in jail, before the ruling today.

National Secretary of the CFMEU Construction and General Division, Dave Noonan, said while the relief felt by Ark and his family is hugely gratifying, the threat hanging over every Australian construction worker continues.

“We still have a system under which an ordinary construction worker, like Ark, can be dragged through 18 months of hell for sticking up for safety on site,” he said.

“The ABCC has engaged in a year-and-a-half of war against an ordinary Aussie worker – and what do they have to show for it? A million dollars of taxpayer money down the drain.

“This decision demonstrates that the ABCC has been acting illegally – in breach of its own laws.

“This Labor Government has so far spent 100 million dollars on faceless bureaucrats to bungle around on an ideological mission against ordinary workers. Why?

“It’s time now to move to a system that prioritises safety instead of one that diminishes the civil liberties of ordinary workers.”

Poll shows Australians reject powers of the ABCC

Noonan noted that recent Essential Research polling showed the overwhelming majority of Australians reject the powers of the ABCC that treat construction workers as second-class citizens.

“Only 17 per cent of Australians support the ABCC’s power to prosecute workers for attending workplace meetings,” he said.

“Less than 24 per cent believe that the ABCC should have coercive powers stronger than the police to compel construction workers to give evidence and be interviewed.”

“The government has an opportunity to return to construction workers the same rights enjoyed by all other Australian workers. They should take it.”

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