00:00The government here in Victoria has announced it will introduce a fit and proper person
00:06test for people working in the construction industry.
00:09Now this will be aimed at labour hire firms to weed out criminal behaviour.
00:13So it would weed out people with serious criminal convictions as well as people with links to
00:18organised crime.
00:19Now this is in the wake of those serious allegations against the CFMEU levelled earlier this year.
00:25Allegations of misconduct, of bullying and intimidation within the union and also allegations
00:29that organised crime had infiltrated that union.
00:33Now the Premier Jacinta Allen commissioned an independent report, independent review
00:37done by Greg Wilson earlier this year and that's been handed down today, made public
00:41today.
00:43Inside that report there were eight recommendations aimed at improving this industry.
00:47In addition to that fit and proper person, he's also called for building company bosses
00:52to be compelled to report illegal activity or suspicions of illegal activity to a regulator.
00:59He's also said that there should be an alliance between state and federal governments to oversee
01:03and then act on allegations of misconduct in the industry.
01:08Inside that report he noted that violence was an accepted part of the culture within
01:12the union and reports were rarely made to police.
01:15He said he found that there were entrenched union issues at government work sites and
01:19stronger interventions may still be needed.
01:22Now this report did look at the government's big build sites around here in Victoria.
01:26These are multi-billion dollar work projects including the Metro Tunnel here in Victoria
01:31and the Westgate Tunnel projects as well in addition to others.
01:35Now the Premier has said that these changes will require legislative change.
01:39Parliament has broken up for the year already this year and it won't be back until February
01:43next year.
01:44Now she said that consultation will be required.
01:47She said that that could take some time and has indicated that it might not be until sometime
01:51later next year that legislation might be ready.
01:54These changes are big, these changes need to happen and they go to the fact that we
01:58have zero tolerance, zero tolerance for this behaviour and we'll work incredibly hard to
02:04pull this rotten culture out by its roots as we continue to strengthen the work here
02:09in Victoria.
02:10Now she has suggested that she would like that legislation to be complete and put to
02:14Parliament as soon as possible.
02:16In addition to that Greg Wilson has recommended that a review is done within two years time
02:21to see where this regulation and this new look at the industry has gotten to.
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