Interview with Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan, ABC Radio Brisbane

Event: Interview with Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan, ABC Radio Brisbane
Date: 20 August 2024, 7.24am AEST
Speakers: Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia
Topics: CFMEU Administration
E&OE

Craig Zonca, host ABC Radio Brisbane: But let’s turn to what’s going on in federal politics because laws forcing the CFMEU, the nation’s construction union, to accept administration passed the Senate yesterday.

Loretta Ryan, host ABC Radio Brisbane: Yes. But what does that all mean? How will the upheaval impact you? Denita Wawn is the CEO of Master Builders Australia. Denita, good morning. All right, how will this legis- how will this impact the construction sector?

Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia: It’s going to have a, good morning, it’s going to have a significant impact. By the end of next week, we expect an administrator will be in place, and we understand from court subjects that the scheme will make officials of all of the construction division of the CFMEU terminated, their roles. And that will hopefully, from day one, see a significant decrease in the problems that we have been seeing across the country in terms of intimidation and thuggery. And it gives the administrator the opportunity to then look at the allegations around criminal behaviour and also around anti-competitive conduct in conjunction with regulators.

Craig: So, Denita, things don’t necessarily then change today or tomorrow, do they?

Denita: No, history will tell us that we’ve had decades of these types of issues, and so we see this as a first step. It’s not the only step. While the administrator is in place cleaning up the union, we need to be doing more with the Federal Government in ensuring protections for business as they come forward to provide evidence to regulators. That is going to be critical. We also know that we’re going to need a long term, permanent, specific building regulator. And this is not just about industrial relations law, this is about criminal law, it’s about competition law, and the governance of these organisations and the industry at large also needs to reflect why we’ve got here and how we’re going to clean up.

Craig: This has all come to a head in the last couple of weeks after allegations, particularly against the Victorian branch of the construction arm of the CFMEU became public. Are you frustrated that it has taken until now? You talk about there being decades of issues that you’ve identified, now that there is action, when you reflect on that journey to get to this point, Denita, what goes through your mind?

Denita: What goes through my mind is the four Royal Commissions that we’ve had into this issue, the countless inquiries, the countless federal court decisions. But as a lobbyist, you’ve got to realise that you continue to pursue issues and find opportunities to get outcomes when they present themselves. So, this is something that we are relieved for the industry, that finally, we have a bipartisan approach to cleaning up the CFMEU, but we’ve got to ensure that this is not just a quick clean up and it gets messy again. We’ve got to make sure that this does not happen, and that’s the next step for us in Canberra.

Loretta: Yeah, we’ve got to ensure that things get moving, especially, you know, with the construction sector, houses and things that have been stopped, and delayed. Denita, thank you for talking to us.

Denita: Pleasure. Thank you.

Craig: Denita Wawn, the CEO of the Master Builders Australia.

Media contact:
Dee Zegarac
National Director, Media & Public Affairs
0400 493 071
dee.zegarac@masterbuilders.com.au