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Issue No. 328 13 October 2006  
E D I T O R I A L

Straw Men
Somewhere between Bangalore and Surrey Hills a story about off shoring of Australian jobs got confused this week; unleashing a round of hand-wringing that speaks volumes about the political and commercial potency of this issue.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Australia�s Most Wanted
The ACCC is the latest state agency to turn its guns on the construction union. National official, Dave Noonan, discusses the implications.

Industrial: The Fox and the Contractor
With new laws looming for �independent contractors�, Foxtel subbies have had the carpet pulled from under their feet, writes Nathan Brown.

Unions: Industrial Wasteland
A group of inner-Sydney veterans appear to be working to strip their families of retirement incomes. Jim Marr records their desperation.

International: Two Bob's Worth
German and British workers are participating in business decisions while WorkChoices locks Australians out of the conversation, writes Anthony Forsyth.

Economics: National Interest
John Howard claimed that interest rates would always be lower under a Coalition government than under Labor, Neale Towart crunchess the numbers.

Environment: The Real Dinosaur
Economic ignorance remains at the top and the critics are oblivious says Sol Power

History: Only In Spain?
The experiences of self management during the Civil War have been the one positive factor to come from that tragic event, and the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation thrives today.

Review: Clerk Off
Nathan Brown draws solace from some fellow social misfits.

N E W S

 Activists Notebook

 Money Walks Over Jobs

 Classifieds the New IR Attack Dog

 States Keep Stakes in IR Blueprint

 Meatworkers Boned by WorkChoices

 Tune Up for Radio Rentals

 Democracy Overboard in Bass Strait

 Unionist Targeted for Deportation

 Taxpayers Taken to the Cleaners

 Staff Sunk By Float

 AWB Sets New Low

 Heinemann Pushes the Envelope

 Giant Catastrophe for Crew

 Workers Lose Right to Choose Lawyers

 Skill Vouchers A Dud, AMWU

C O L U M N S

Legends
Westie Wing
MLC Ian West ventures beyond Macquarie St and into the desert of the eco rats.

The Soapbox
Testing Times
Former RLPA secretary and Newcastle Knights prop, Tony Butterfield, fires up over dawn raids.

Obituary
Dare to Win
The union movement has lost an inspirational leader of working men and women, writes Jeana Vithoulkas

Fiction
Tommy's Apprentice
Chapter Two - Tommy�s Tale.

L E T T E R S
 Honest John, Would You Like Lies With That
 The Unpromised Land
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Workers Lose Right to Choose Lawyers


The Federal Court has ruled a government agency can block workers it is interrogating from being represented by lawyers of their choice.

WA building worker Michael Bonan challenged the powers of Australian Building and Construction Commission investigator Nigel Hadgkiss to reject his right to choice of lawyer, while conducting a secret interrogation into alleged industrial action.

Hadgkiss made the ruling on the basis that the lawyer was representing other workers in relation to the same matter.

In his decision, Justice Besanko ruled that the ABCC had the power to deny the worker the choice of lawyer during the secret interrogations.

The court did, however, rule that the ABCC had exceeded its power when Hadgkiss attempted to prevent Bonan using his preferred lawyer outside the secret investigation.

CFMEU Construction Division National Secretary Dave Noonan says the decision shows how extreme the Howard Government's anti-building industry laws actually are.

"What the court has said is that a government official can deny a worker the basic right of choosing their own legal representative.

"The effect of this decision is that workers can be called before a secret hearing of Howard's hand-picked political appointees and forced to answer questions under the threat of six months jail - without a lawyer of their choice.

"This decision reinforces the repressive nature of these laws, which have been enacted with minimal public scrutiny or debate.

"These laws are bad for workers, bad for democracy and bad for the building industry, which has always thrived when employers and employees work together cooperatively," Noonan says.


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