The Guardian 8 November, 2006
Workers lose right to choose lawyers
The Federal Court has ruled that the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) has the power to prevent a worker it is interrogating from being represented by a lawyer of his or her choice. WA building worker Michael Bonan challenged the powers of ABCC investigator Nigel Hadgkiss to reject his right to choice of lawyer to be present during secret interrogations concerning alleged industrial action.
Mr 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 Mr Hadgkiss attempted to prevent Mr Bonan using his preferred lawyer outside the secret investigation. CFMEU Construction Division National Secretary Dave Noonan said 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", Mr Noonan said.