Labor apologises for workplace policy

Detailed summary

The inquiry revealed on Wednesday that the BPIC policy, which set wages and conditions on government projects, had driven up construction costs by at least 20% across three…

Queensland Opposition leader Steven Miles has apologised for an industrial relations framework introduced under his former Labor government, after a CFMEU inquiry found it inflated costs on three major state projects.

The inquiry revealed on Wednesday that the BPIC policy, which set wages and conditions on government projects, had driven up construction costs by at least 20% across three projects: Brisbane’s Cross River Rail, the Centenary Bridge upgrade and the Gold Coast Light Rail (ABC).

“I’m taking responsibility. I’m saying I should have acted sooner … and for not acting sooner, I apologise,” said Miles. “We put in place that administration, and it exposed how the CFMEU was misusing that otherwise well-intentioned policy” (AFR).

The LNP scrapped BPIC in one of its first moves after being elected to government (SMH).

Meanwhile, at Victoria’s Big Build royal commission, the authority delivering the project has been criticised by Chris Young, KC, counsel assisting the commissioner, for delaying the release of requested documents and later providing them in heavily redacted form without explanation (The Age).

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