Media Release

02 March 2017: Not long after the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) has passed the Parliament, KAP Member for Kennedy Bob Katter has highlighted the need for Australia to have strong workplace protections following yet another tragic construction site death in Sydney’s Darling Harbour yesterday.

Mr Katter said, “It is reported to me by the CFMEU that 12 deaths have occurred in construction in the last seven or so months.

These are deaths we know about. There’s a lot we don’t know about.”

It is reported, a man in his 30s who had a young family was crushed to death by a large metal beam on a barge.

Mr Katter said, “If you emasculate the only level of protection that the worker has, that is the representative body of the trade union -- if you remove them and emasculate them, there’ll be a lot more deaths.

“If there has been excessive behavior by a union, then that is illegal and they can be punished. One must ask the question, why do you want to eliminate the workers protection mechanism when you already have the laws to punish them for excessive behavior? Why are you not enforcing those laws?

“There is no protection against the discretionary apprehension by the “Government’s Servants,” the Police. They can pluck you off the street anytime they feel like at the whim of the Government.

“There is a hell of a lot of people in this county that know the history of our forebears that fought and died in 1215 at a far-off place called Runnymede to ensure the people got the Great Charter of Freedom and Independence which we now know as the Magna Carta. It says the King cannot apprehend by Due Process of Law. We call that principal Habeas Corpus. That is the “Great Pillar” upon which our Democracy is built – it is removed from this, the ABCC legislation.

“The “Right to Remain Silent” which we hear 20 times every night on TV in the detective movies, that principal is also turkey trampled by the political pygmies populating the parliament!”

##ENDS##