The judge also found there were no existing safety issues at the time of the visit. Justice North said the evidence points to “a wholly social visit” by the union officials. He also said their visit had not given any cause for concern, but he was following orders from management. The project manager later gave evidence that Travers and Hall had an “incredulous or surprised look on their face” in response to the request. The manager said the pair did not have right of entry because they had failed to give 24 hours’ notice, as required for union visits under workplace laws.īut the pair explained they had gone to the site for a social visit so Travers could say hello to a friend. The men talked about their recent trips interstate and four-wheel driving over a cup of tea for about 20 minutes before a project manager told the CFMEU officials to leave, or he would call the police. Travers, accompanied by Hall, had popped into the worksite operated by McConnell Dowell to see a friend who was also a union representative. The ABCC alleged the pair broke the law after they entered a construction site at Melbourne Airport in 2014 to “have a cuppa and say hello” to a friend. Justice North described the case as “excitare fluctus in simpulo” – a Latin expression by Roman writer Cicero which means “storm in a tea cup”. ![]() The national construction watchdog has spent thousands of dollars on what a federal judge has described as a "storm in a tea cup" over two mates having a cuppa at a Melbourne worksite.įederal Court judge Anthony North on Monday dismissed a complaint by the Australian Building and Construction Commission, who had accused the CFMEU and officials Mark Travers and Adam Hall of breaching workplace laws.
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