The CFMEU has said that the one-month ban on tendering for government work issued to a Queensland construction company and a formal warning that went to another shows how “toothless” the federal government’s building watchdog is.

CFMEU national construction secretary Dave Noonan says the penalties are empty symbolism that do nothing to address worker safety or ensure security of payments.

“A one-month ban on tendering for government work is an exercise in futility,” he says.

“The sanction against MCP (AUS) Pty Ltd, comes after a mobile concrete pump truck toppled on the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing project, which was notorious for a string of significant safety issues which put workers at risk including multiple truck, crane and trailer rollovers during 2017 and 2018.

“The ABCC has not taken action against the head contractor Nexus, a consortium of the massive multinational companies Acciona and Ferrovial, which did the haul roads and hard stands on the cheap using dry compaction leading to more than 20 heavy vehicle rollovers by mid-2018.”

The construction union was also critical of the Queensland government’s decision to accept a low-ball price from Nexus for the project which was going to result in corners being cut on safety and workers being put at risk.

“The ABCC’s crowing about the successful prosecution of one subcontractor by the Queensland safety regulator while saying and doing nothing to hold Nexus to account for the host of failings on the project is typical of a regulator that is broken by design,” Dave adds.

“The other builder sanctioned, i2 Solutions, was issued a formal warning by IR Minister Michaelia Cash over late or withheld payments on the M4 Smart Motorway project in NSW and the Logan Enhancement Project in Queensland.

“i2 Solutions went into receivership in 2020 owing money to subbies and having failed to make on-time payments of more than $1 million.”