Dear Comrades,
Here is some information about the Royal Commission into the Building
and Construction Industry. Make no mistake about it, this is a Patricks
style attack upon building unions.
The Federal Government has allocated $60 million to the building
industry Royal Commission compared to only $29.9 million for the HIH
inquiry. Shadow Attorney-General Robert McCelland said, "It is
astonishing that the government is spending twice as much on its
politically motivated inquiry into the building industry than it is on
the royal commission into one of the biggest and most serious corporate
collapses in Australia's history."
The Age reported that "The revelation sparked accusations from Labor
that the government was using tax dollars to attack unions at the
expense of the HIH commission."
The following is a summary of the main points raised at the Senate Legal
and Constitutional Legislation Committee on 18/2/02.
1. $60 million is to be spent on the building industry inquiry as
opposed to $29.9 million for the HIH version.
2. $28 million is to be spent in 2001-02 and $25 million in 2002-03.
3. The Commission has 4 teams of investigators each headed by a Counsel
Assisting. The teams include investigators, solicitors and analysts.
4. There are 16 investigators in total. Eight of which are seconded
from the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Of the others, one is from
the Western Australian police, 1 is from the Victorian police, 2 are
from the National Crime Authority (NCA) and the others are from the
Australian Tax Office, Australia Post, Australian Stock Exchange and BHP.
5. No AFP or NCA investigators are being used by the HIH inquiry despite
allegations about corporate crime.
6. Colin Thatcher was asked whether the Commission had been tapping
phones. He stated that the Commission does not have the ?authority? to tap phones.
However he did not say that it was not being done ie. Does the
Commission have the "authority" to ask the AFP to tap phones on their
behalf?
7. Senators Carr and Cooney criticised the fact that if a member of the
public has a complaint about the conduct of an investigator, all they
can do is approach the Commission about it. Hence there is little
accountability. There is an allegation from Mr Noonan of the CFMEU
Victorian Branch that phones are being tapped. There is also an
allegation that investigators had been looking into union official's
private lives. Cooney stated that there had been a report that an
investigator was asking union official's neighbours about whether they
had heard of any domestic violence perpetrated by the official.
8. Thatcher is required to advise the Committee as to Cole's salary as
well as the fees of Counsel Assisting. Thatcher claimed that barrister
fees were confidential in order to protect their commercial reputation.
He will look into the matter more closely.
9. Thatcher would not comment as to whether union officials were under
surveillance.
10. Thatcher was criticised for the fact that no action seems to have
been taken against Tony Abbott for contempt over his letter to
Multiplex. Thatcher is on notice to investigate whether action has or
will be taken.
11. Thatcher was asked what level of industrial relations experience
Commissioner Cole has. Thatcher said his CV is on the website. He also
said Cole has a good understanding of IR.
12. The Royal Commission has a "Media Relations Area" comprising of a
Media Adviser, Media Coordinator and at least one other person. The
budget for this section is $700,000. This is compared with a media
budget of $140,000 for the HIH inquiry. Senator Carr asked whether this
implies that one is meant to be more public than the other.
13. The Commission employs a Mr Gillespe in what Thatcher says is an
administrative role. He is formerly of the DEWRSB and the Department of
Finance and Administration. He had a role in the Patrick's dispute.
Thatcher was asked whether Gillespe was a member of the "Workplace
Reform Unit". Thatcher made no comment. Gillespe is paid under an SES
1 rate which is substantial for someone doing purely administrative work.
$60 million is;
* More than what the Federal Government allocated in their Budget last
year (that is for the year 2001-02 - all the following figures are based
upon this period) to improving after hours medical care
* Over half what the Federal Government allocated in their Budget last
year for more practice nurses in rural and regional Australia
* Just under half what the Federal Government allocated in their Budget
last year for rural and regional telecommunications and internet services
* More that what the Federal Government allocated in their Budget last
year for primary health care for indigenous people.
* Over 5 times more than what the Federal Government allocated in their
Budget last year to helping people find jobs
* More than 9 times more than what the Federal Government allocated in
their Budget last year to helping parents return to work.
* 20 times more than what the Federal Government allocated in their
Budget last year to "a fair go for mature age workers"
* 10 times more than what the Federal Government allocated in their
Budget last year to "a better deal for people with disabilities"
* 30 times more than what the Federal Government allocated in their
Budget last year to child care places
* 6 times what the Federal Government allocated in their Budget last
year to the one-off payment to people of age pension age
* Twice what the Federal Government allocated in their Budget last year
to Seniors telephone allowances
* Twice what the Federal Government allocated in their Budget last year
to Seniors Health Care Card
* Over 9 times more than what the Federal Government allocated in their
Budget last year to improving aged care services
* The same as what the Federal Government said they would add to the
aged care budget over the next four years.
--
--
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
