A ‘sweetheart’ deal granted to union tradies has been put on ice in a government effort to wrangle construction costs and stalling projects.
The Queensland government announced on Thursday they would end the Best Practice Industry Conditions for tradies on new union-approved sites.
The bargain allowed union tradies to receive an extra $1,000 per week for working away from home and double pay for working in the rain, among other perks.
Treasury modelling revealed BPIC would have cost the state $17.1billion by 2030.
Queensland’s deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie, announced he’d put the BPIC deal on a ‘pause-and-review’ for all new, government-funded contracts.
‘The Liberal National government… is temporarily suspending the CFMEU sweetheart deal known as BPIC,’ he told reporters.
The suspension will continue until a review into the construction sector has been completed by a re-established Queensland Productivity Commission.
‘Workers deserve and will be paid well. Workers deserve safe workplaces but productivity must return to construction sites,’ Mr Bleijie told a panel discussion at a Queensland Major Contractors Association event in Brisbane on Thursday.
Mr Bleijie and the LNP had set their sights on the CMFEU since winning the October state election and had questioned the union over project cost blowouts since taking power.
The LNP claimed to have unearthed blowouts of $494million for the Cross River Rail project and $330million for a Gold Coast light rail stage, promising to ‘stop the rot’.
‘We need to urgently control the cost blowouts of government-funded construction projects, which ultimately hits the hip-pockets of Queensland families and businesses,’ Mr Bleijie said.
‘Queenslanders shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of this, which is why we’ve ordered this pause and review.
‘It will also give subcontractors, especially small and family businesses and regional firms, a greater chance of securing work on government projects, without all the costs and time involved in having to gain unnecessary prequalification.’
Queensland Major Contractors Association CEO, Andrew Chapman, blamed the bargain for lower productivity and increased project costs by up to 30 per cent.
The ‘pause-and-review’ won’t apply to government infrastructure jobs that are already underway or on already-approved enterprise agreements.
It will only affect future projects and agreements until a further decision is made on whether the BPIC should continue or undergo amendments.
The government, however, has not ruled out applying the changes retrospectively to scrap the previous agreements.
The BPIC deal faced criticism when it was initiated, but then-Premier Steven Miles assured Queenslanders the bargain would ensure projects +were getting done.
‘These are all prevailing conditions in the industry,’ Mr Miles said at the time.
‘I think it’s appropriate that on government jobs, workers aren’t competing with each other on wages.’
The new government is looking to introduce a Queensland Productivity Commission before the close of the year, which would review, and suggest amendments to, the construction industry in the state.
The LNP cited modelling that showed the current working conditions could cost Queensland some 22,000 new homes over the next five years, which could see rents increase by seven per cent over the same time.
