YET ANOTHER Federal Court judgement has provided 270,000 further reasons why the Parliament should support the Ensuring Integrity Laws, according to Master Builders Australia. 

In the decision handed down earlier today, the Court found the CFMMEU and three of its officials had broken workplace laws by engaging in unlawful picketing through a coordinated campaign to block site access. 

Two sites were blocked by groups of men standing in front of CFMMEU vehicles which were parked across a driveway. When told to leave and advised they were trespassing, one group said, "piss off, we're here, we're staying". 

The Court penalised the CFMMEU and the officials penalties totalling $270,000 and made a costs order against the union.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said that this judgement showed "exactly why we need the Ensuring Integrity laws". 

"Two of the three officials involved in this case have a track record of breaking workplace laws, including intimidating and abusive conduct towards workplace inspectors,” Ms Wawn said. 

"It makes no sense that, despite their extensive history of lawbreaking, these officials are still out there on the ground and still have the right to exercise all the privileges and protections given under the Fair Work laws. 

"Without the Ensuring Integrity laws, they will just keep on breaking the law and nothing will change,” Ms Wawn said. 

"When a Judge writes a decision noting that the CFMMEU has 'an apparent willingness to contravene industrial laws in a serious way' that means something – and we hope the Parliament is listening,” she said. 

"The ABCC Commissioner was right to say the CFMMEU see these fines as a cost of doing business because that's exactly what it is – we don't let drivers keep their licence just because they can pay the fines so why do we let lawbreaking unions do it?,” Ms Wawn said. 

“The Ensuring Integrity laws will mean all organisations and officials, be they unions or employer associations, could lose their rights and privileges if they keep breaking workplace laws. 

"Most organisations and officials do the right thing every day and the Ensuring Integrity laws won't make a difference to those who play by the rules. The simple facts are that unions and their officials do not need to repeatedly and deliberately break workplace laws to represent your members,” Ms Wawn said.

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment has commenced an inquiry into the efficacy of past and current vegetation and land management policy, practice and legislation and their effect on the intensity and frequency of bushfires and subsequent risk to property, life and the environment.

On launching the inquiry, chair of the Committee, Ted O’Brien MP, said. "Many communities across Australia had experienced or were still in the grip of a bushfire crisis.

"We are currently experiencing a difficult, dangerous and potentially prolonged bushfire season," he said.

"We feel for our fellow Australians both impacted by, and trying to control, these devastating fires.

"The new inquiry provides an opportunity to better understand the practices relating to vegetation and land management, legislative frameworks, economic impact, mitigation strategies and the engagement of emergency services.

"The Committee understands people will have very passionate views about this, particularly in light of the current bushfire season. We look forward to hearing all views and accessing all the evidence put before us."

The Committee’s inquiry is in response to Minister for Natural Disaster and Emergency Management David Littleproud. It will have particular regard to matters including:

• past and current practices of land and vegetation management;
• the impact of current legislation and regulatory responses for landholders;
• the scientific basis behind relevant bushfire management activities;
• legislative capability at the local, state and federal levels requiring landholders to reduce fire risk on properties;
• the economic impact of severe fires in urban, regional, rural and remote areas;
• the progress and implementation of various state reviews over the last decade; and
• the engagement of emergency services with land management officials in managing fire risk.

Submissions to the inquiry will be accepted until 28 February 2020. The Committee intends to hold public hearings at various locations, which will be announced in due course on the inquiry website.

Submissions must address the inquiry’s terms of reference, which are available along with details on how to make a submission on the inquiry website.

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THE Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is warning the community about scammers taking advantage of tax payment deadlines to scam unsuspecting victims.

"Late last year, we saw the biggest ever peak in money being lost to scammers pretending to be from the ATO," Assistant Commissioner Karen Foat said. Around $2 million was lost from November 2018 to January this year.

“I’m particularly concerned about the sophistication these scammers keep showing," Ms Foat said. "They are getting better at impersonating large organisations and ramp up in periods where people expect to hear from us, to make their threats appear more legitimate.

“While some taxpayers will have tax payments due from November, the ATO will always let you know how much you owe and the due date when we send your notice of assessment.

“If you’re unsure, you can check if you have a legitimate debt anytime by logging into your myGov account, or by contacting us or your tax agent.

“Our work to inform the community has paid off. We are seeing an increase in the number of people reporting scams and a decrease in the number of people handing over money to scammers. But any money going to scammers is too much," Ms Foat said.

“So far this year, 622 people paid over $2.1 million to scammers impersonating the ATO. We see these ATO impersonation scams by phone, email, SMS and even through message apps such as WhatsApp.

“We’ve also recently spotted scammers using the cardless cash feature offered by many banks. Through this feature, victims are sent codes to withdraw cash from an ATM, which they then read out to the scammer. 

“One Sydneysider was duped out of $500 through this tactic. After a client alerted him that he was scammed, he reported the incident to us.

“In October, we also saw a spike in email and SMS scams, often asking people to update their personal details. These scams usually contain links to fake online services to get personal information that enables scammers to steal your identity”, Ms Foat said.

SAFETY CHECK

The ATO will never:

• use aggressive or rude behaviour, or threaten you with immediate arrest, jail or deportation
• project our number onto your caller ID – so people can be sure that if there’s a number on their caller ID, it’s not the ATO calling
• request payment of a debt via cardless cash, iTunes or Google Play cards, pre-paid Visa cards, cryptocurrency, or direct credit to a personal bank account
• send an email or SMS requesting you click on a hyperlink to log on to government services

"If you receive a call, email or SMS and aren’t sure, it's okay to hang up or not respond. Instead, you can phone the ATO’s dedicated scam line 1800 008 540 to check if it was legitimate. You can also report a scam online at ato.gov.au/reportascam," Ms Foat said.

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THE House Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training has launched an inquiry into the education of students in remote and complex environments.

Committee chair, Andrew Laming MP, said the inquiry would examine the performance of the Australian education system in remote and regional areas, its territories and in complex circumstances like drought and post-natural disaster.

"The committee looks forward to examining how Education meets the learning needs of students and how barriers in the education journey are overcome," Mr Laming said.

Areas of interest include:

• small remote schools; particularly in challenging areas like the tri-state area of central Australia;
• career counselling of remote students and means of connecting them to further education or local employment;
• challenges faced by regional schooling providers and initiatives in place;
• how families of vulnerable young children can access, enrol and remain in early learning, and the collaboration between early and primary education;
• the performance and monitoring of those in home schooling to maintain national minimum standards; and
• access and support to deliver the Australian Curriculum (including STEM) in a flexible way, to meet local learning needs and interests of remote students, including examples of innovative ways in which the curriculum is being delivered in remote schools.

Submissions to the inquiry are now open.

The committee said it welcomed advice and suggestions from the public on potential locations for public hearings to be held in 2020.

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