A Tasmanian construction union official has been penalised $10,000 for his ninth contravention of right of entry provisions, this time committed at the site of the Cattle Hill wind farm in the Central Highlands.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Federal Court also imposed a $50,000 penalty on the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union for the breach of the Fair Work Act.
The matter, brought by the Australian Building and Construction Commission, was finalised in the Federal Court last week
The court heard that CFMMEU assistant secretary for Tasmania Richard Xavier Hassett mailed his entry permit back to the Fair Work Commission in December 2018 as part of his response to a separate investigation.
IN OTHER NEWS:
But just over a month later, on the morning of January 16, he attended the wind farm construction site and co-signed his entry notice.
He entered the site, walked along a long haul road, then returned to the site office.
Because he did not hold a permit, he was in breach of the Fair Work Act.
It was the ninth time Mr Hassett has contravened right of entry provisions, but as noted by Justice David O'Callaghan, the CFMMEU "exhibits apparent willingness" to contravene the Fair Work Act.
The CFMMEU has been a firm opponent of the ABCC - first established under the Howard government, then reintroduced by the Turnbull government - which it sees as unfairly targeting the union's ability to follow-up safety issues in the construction industry.
The Commissioner described Mr Hassett's breach of the Fair Work Act as "blatant", and that he was fully aware of his actions as he had mailed back his entry permit one month earlier.
Mr Hassett's previous breaches were "marked by their frequency, consistency and brazenness", the Commissioner asserted.
Mr Hassett claimed that the breach was at the lower end of seriousness because the wind farm company, Goldwind Australia, did not suffer any loss, its activities were not disrupted and his actions were not repeated.
CFMMEU officials have since received further training about responsibilities and obligations under workplace law.
Justice O'Callaghan rejected the view that Mr Hassett avoid a personal penalty.
"Mr Hassett must well have known that he had no right to enter the site, because quite apart from what he must be assumed to have known from his previous encounters in this court, he had only a little more than a month earlier handed back his entry permit to the Fair Work Commission," he said in his judgment.
"Given that Mr Hassett is a repeat offender, the need for an order that is directed towards specific deterrence is, I would have thought, obvious."
No cost orders were made.