The Queensland government is suspending a suite of construction sector 'perks' for all new major state projects. The LNP says the temporary pause will save taxpayers billions while construction unions have sounded the alarm on safety concerns.
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00:00Two members of the state's construction union, escorted out by police after heckling during
00:08an industry event.
00:09Good morning everybody, welcome to breakfast.
00:13The Deputy Premier announced during his speech special conditions for construction union
00:18workers on major state projects would be suspended due to cost blowouts and plunging productivity.
00:26The Treasury forecast said that these sweetheart deals with the CFMEU between now and 2030
00:31would cost Queenslanders $17.1 billion.
00:37Best practice industry conditions, or BPIC, are pay and conditions that must be provided
00:43for construction workers.
00:45The deal between unions and the former Labor government began in 2018 for parts of the
00:51Townsville Stadium, but was extended to all public projects over $100 million.
00:58The conditions include double time when it rains, stop work if the temperature reaches
01:0335 degrees or 29 degrees and 75% humidity, 26 rostered days off and $100 a week if a
01:13worker has to use their own phone.
01:16The CFMEU says scrapping the policy will impact safety and wages.
01:22This will lead to a dangerous deregulation of the labor market and more workers dying
01:27on construction sites.
01:30The Electrical Trades Union has condemned the decision, labelling it political point
01:35scoring at workers' expense.
01:38Others have welcomed it.
01:40We said they were never best practice and they certainly weren't standard industrial
01:44conditions.
01:45Those projects are going ahead, they're just costing a lot more and we as taxpayers are
01:49footing the bill.
01:50The BPIC pause will remain in place well into next year.
01:54The government wants to first re-establish the Queensland Productivity Commission, which
02:00will then review the construction sector before it decides what happens next.
02:06The LNP says workplace health and safety standards, training for apprentices and trainees won't
02:12be impacted.
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