FEDERAL COURT QUASHES UNION WITCH HUNT

A court has delivered another embarrassing blow to Scott Morrison’s union regulator – the very same organisation he’s trying to give new powers with his anti-worker legislation. 

The Federal Court today officially quashed the Registered Organisations Commission investigation into the Australian Workers Union and instructed the Australian Federal Police to return all the documents they seized in the botched 2017 raids.

The ruling comes after the court earlier found there were no “reasonable grounds” for the investigation and the Commissioner acted “based on a suspicion”.

The ROC has been fatally compromised by these two rulings.

This was their first major investigation and they botched it completely – dragging the union before the court for two years and wasting taxpayers’ money.

How can the Australian people have any confidence in a body that has been thoroughly politicised by this union-hating Liberal Government and now also discredited by the courts?

We should be shutting down the ROC over its role in this scandal – not giving it vastly expanded powers.

But that’s exactly what Scott Morrison is trying to do with his so-called “Ensuring Integrity” Bill.

His response to an organisation that has failed to abide by the law is to reward it with more power.

Under the Bill the ROC will have unprecedented scope to have union leaders disqualified and entire unions shut down – for offences as minor as paperwork breaches.

The Government’s “Proper Use of Worker Benefits” will also give the ROC new power to wrap unions in red tape.

Today’s judgement makes it clear: the Registered Organisations Commission cannot be trusted with these powers. It’s one of many reasons the Bill should be defeated.

TUESDAY, 26 NOVEMBER 2019