28 February 2005 Building Industry Taskforce case declaired ‘hopeless’ The latest legal attack by the Building Industry Taskforce on the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union has been labelled “hopeless” by the Federal Court, leaving taxpayers holding the massive legal bill. The Federal Court dismissed the case after the Howard Governments Building Industry Taskforce attempted to argue that two CFMEU officials had forced a subcontractor, PG & LJ Smith Plant Hire, to be sacked from the Northgate Apartments project in Fairy Meadow in January 2003 for failing to join the union. In Friday’s decision by the Federal Court to award costs to the CFMEU, Justice Wilcox labelled the Taskforce’s case “hopeless” and “without reasonable cause.” In his finding Justice Wilcox said, “The applicants’ case was beset with legal difficulties that would have required it to be dismissed in any event. Even on the view of the facts propounded by the applicants, their case was hopeless. It was instituted without reasonable cause.” CFMEU NSW Secretary Andrew Ferguson said the awarding of costs confirmed the fact that from day one the case had no merit and was nothing more than an unfounded union witch hunt. “This decision has confirmed what the CFMEU has always known: this case lacked credibility, it lacked reasonable cause, and it had no chance of success. “This case was guaranteed to lose from the beginning, yet the Government decided to throw massive amounts of money at it in the hope that some of the mud they were slinging at the union might stick, but they’ve achieved absolutely nothing,” Ferguson said. “John Howard has spent more than $70 million on the Cole Royal Commission and the Building Industry Taskforce, and yet this case shows once again that taxpayer’s money is being wasted because of this Governments determination to attack the CFMEU. “If the Howard Government wants to do something useful with this money there are 1000 Walter Construction Group employees and hundreds of small subcontract companies, between them owed tens of millions of dollars, who desperately need the money they are owed to support their families.” Media contact: Tim Vollmer (CFMEU Media Officer) 0404 273 313 Andrew Ferguson (CFMEU NSW Sec.) 0412 511 994   [ more news ]