PM Transcripts

The politically motivated decision by the Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, to walk away from $90 million of Commonwealth funding for the MCG redevelopment project because of a workplace relations matter is a demonstration of the hold that union leaders have over his government and the Labor Party.
In the 2001-02 Budget the Commonwealth committed $90 million to the MCG redevelopment project, recognising that it will be the main venue for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Last week I wrote to the Premier again confirming the Commonwealth';s commitment, and our requirement that the Office of the Employment Advocate should have access to the project sites to monitor compliance with and to investigate any suspected breaches of the Workplace Relations Act, the National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry and associated Industry Guidelines.
I pointed out to the Premier that the approach I have suggested is in line with that taken in the case of the Alice Springs to Darwin Railway, which unlike the Victorian project involved considerable contributions from both the South Australian and Northern Territory Governments, as well as Commonwealth funds. The Office of the Employment Advocate has broad access rights to this project. Progress to date on the construction of the railway has been impressive.
The Victorian Government had previously claimed that it was prepared to accept application of the Code and Guidelines. Despite this, however, it would not agree to allowing the Commonwealth access to MCG project sites to monitor compliance and investigate suspected breaches of the National Code and associated guidelines. It would agree in principle, but not in practice.
The conditions sought in relation to compliance should not have been surprising to the Victorian Government in light of the allegations of unacceptable union practices made at the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry on previous Commonwealth supported but Victorian Government managed sites such as Federation Square and the National Gallery of Victoria.
It should be remembered that at the Building Industry Royal Commission, the Victorian Government accepted that it had engaged in ‘inappropriate conduct';. Yet the Victorian Government is not prepared to accept the need for the Commonwealth to monitor the application of Federal laws and guidelines on this significant project to ensure workplaces are free from unacceptable practices.