The Business Council condemned legislation introduced into Federal Parliament saying it would corrupt the integrity of Commonwealth procurement by allowing discrimination against businesses without union-covered enterprise agreements.
Business Council Chief Executive Bran Black said the change, buried in the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026, was an integrity problem that should alarm every Australian business and taxpayer.
“This would give unions effective control over where taxpayer money goes. It is being introduced against every lesson the country has learned from the recent CFMEU investigations,” Mr Black said.
“Geoffrey Watson SC found some enterprise agreements in construction were bought for cash and awarded to criminals, and that these practices could drive legitimate businesses out of the market.”
“Now, the Federal Government wants to make those same agreements a gateway to public contracts and grants. That creates a major corruption risk.”
Geoffrey Watson SC’s reports into the CFMEU found enterprise agreements were, in many instances, a product of who had paid and who had connections.
“Public money should go to businesses that can deliver, not businesses that have signed the right union agreement,” Mr Black said.
“The reach goes far beyond a single contract. A single Commonwealth project could impose these conditions on every business in its supply chain. The consequences would ripple through entire industries.”