The Albanese government is “getting close to a deal” with the Coalition on its CFMEU bill, a senior minister has said.
The bill would force the embattled union to accept a government-appointed administrator to clean it up following damning reports of corruption, bribery and bullying in the construction arm.
“There’s really no time for delay. We do feel that we’re getting close to a deal with the Coalition on this,” newly-appointed Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt told the ABC on Thursday.
“If the Coalition votes with us today, this bill will pass, and that can be a critical step towards reforming the construction union so that it returns to focusing on the best interests of its members.”
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Both the Opposition and the Greens have said they would like more time to look over the details before committing, with the Coalition calling for the union to run in administration for a minimum of three years instead of the maximum, as proposed by the government.
Senator Watt said that was not an option.
“The reality is that there are different levels of severity of allegations across different branches, and they need to be treated separately … the administration would go for a period of three years in total, but also with the power for the administrator to release particular branches from administration if they get a clean bill of health,” he said.
“The issue is that if we make every single branch stay in for three years, that will divert resources away from the problem areas, towards divisions and branches which have been found to be fine.”