Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees (Queensland Branch) [2007] QIRC 42 (2007) 185 QGIG 43

[Extract from Queensland Government Industrial Gazette, dated 1 June, 2007, Vol. 185, No. 5, pages 43-46] QUEENSLAND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION Industrial Relations Act 1999 - s. 613 - orders about invalidity Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees (Queensland Branch) (RIO/2007/4) VICE PRESIDENT LINNANE 4 May 2007 DECISION [1] This is an application by Russell David Carr (Applicant), a member of the Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees (Queensland Branch) (AMIUEQ) seeking the following relief:  a declaration pursuant to s. 613(a) of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 (Act) that invalidities have happened in the management and administration of AMIUEQ on and from 5 April 1993 to date, by reason of the fact that no election was conducted for the AMIUEQ in accordance with the registered rules of AMIUEQ;  a declaration pursuant to s. 613(b) of the Act that invalidities have happened in the election or appointment of officers of the AMIUEQ;  a declaration pursuant to s. 613(c) of the Act that invalidities have happened in the making, amending or repealing of rules of the AMIUEQ;  an order that all decisions, acts and things done purportedly on behalf of the AMIUEQ by officers of the Queensland Branch of The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (the Federal Union) that have been done since 5 April 1993 are to the date of this order declared valid decisions, acts or things done on behalf of the AMIUEQ;  an order that the Committee of Management constituted by Russell Carr (State Secretary), Brian Crawford (Assistant State Secretary), Keith Haslem (State President), Richard Northduft (State Vice-President), Michael Ainsworth (State Treasurer), Ian McLauchlan, Matthew Journeaux, Kelly Bush, Paul Jensen, Raymond Murphy (State Organisers), Mary Bateson, Wayne Coates, John Donaldson, Kim Prange, Susan Siddell (Southern Region Committee of Management Representatives), Michael Bispeskov, Ned Sparkes, Greg Henkel (Central Region Committee of Management Representatives), Fred Brunjes, Rhonda Murphy and John Evans (Northern Region Committee of Management Representatives) be treated as the Committee of Management of the AMIUEQ for all purposes until the application for exemption from holding an election (RIO/2007/22) is determined by the Industrial Registrar;  an order that the Executive constituted by Russell Carr (State Secretary), Brian Crawford (Assistant State Secretary), Keith Haslem (State President), Richard Northduft (State Vice-President), Michael Ainsworth (State Treasurer), Ian McLauchlan, Matthew Journeaux, Kelly Bush, Paul Jensen and Raymond Murphy be treated as the Executive of the AMIUEQ for all purposes until the application for exemption from holding an election (RIO/2007/22) is determined by the Industrial Registrar;  an order that the correspondence dated 14 March 2007 under the hand of Russell Carr directed to the Industrial Registrar concerning the eligibility rules of the AMIUEQ be treated as having been validly made on behalf of the AMIUEQ;  an order that application RIO/2007/21 made to the Industrial Registrar on 4 April 2007 seeking a new set of rules for the AMIUEQ be treated as having validly been made by the AMIUEQ; and  an order that application RIO/2007/22 made to the Industrial Registrar on 4 April 2007 seeking an exemption from election for the AMIUEQ be treated as having validly been made by the AMIUEQ. [2] The object of the application is to remedy the invalidities that have occurred, to change the effects of the invalidities and to validate any act, matter or thing rendered invalid by the said invalidities. [3] On 23 September 2005 the Returning Officer for the Australian Electoral Commission declared an election for officers of the Queensland Branch of The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (the Federal Union). Mr Carr was elected the Queensland Branch Secretary of the Federal Union. Those persons successfully elected to the Queensland Branch of the Federal Union assumed similar positions in the AMIUEQ i.e. the State Union. The -- 1 of 4 -- 2 Rules of the AMIUEQ have remained unaltered since approved by the Industrial Registrar on 5 November 1985. These Rules have been identical in all relevant respects to the Rules of the Federal Union. [4] In the management of both the Queensland Branch of the Federal Union and the State Union there has been no distinction made between the two organisations. [5] The difficulty with the AMIUEQ is that in 1993 a Certificate protecting against invalidities was issued by this Commission: see Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees, (Queensland Branch) (1993) 143 QGIG 81. It appears that no account was taken of the need to properly conduct the affairs of the State Union either at that time or subsequently. The minutes of meetings of the Queensland Branch of the Federal Union or the minutes (if any) of the AMIUEQ in 1993 do not indicate any discussion on such an application to this Commission or the granting of the Certificate. [6] The AMIUEQ has had a significant involvement in the Queensland industrial relations system. The first fifty years of its operation was basically Queensland orientated with the organisation actually being deregistered following a three month state-wide strike in the meat industry: see Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees (Queensland Branch) (1946) 31 QGIG 242. The organisation was subsequently re-registered on 16 September 1946: see Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees (1946) 31 QGIG 382. [7] It was not until the 1960's that the meat processing industry in Queensland became progressively covered by awards of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, as it was then known. There is, however, still a number of meat processing establishments covered by Queensland industrial instruments e.g. Queensland Government owned or controlled abattoirs. The largest activity in the Queensland system is the poultry processing industry where the AMIUEQ currently represents approximately 1,400 members. The Commission was taken to a number of certified agreements registered in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission in the last decade involving the poultry processing industry in Queensland. [8] The Commission was also referred to a number of applications before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission since 2000 where the AMIUEQ has had carriage of industrial disputes, wage claims and unfair dismissals on behalf of members of the AMIUEQ. [9] The irregularity of the AMIUEQ came to the attention of Mr Carr when he attempted to obtain transitional registration under the Workplace Relations (WorkChoices) Amendment Act 2005. The Federal Union advised Mr Carr that it would only be a validly elected Secretary of the AMIUEQ that would be able to make an application for transitional registration. Mr Carr then examined the Rules of the AMIUEQ and found them to require amendment. A new set of rules was prepared and filed with the Industrial Registrar on 15 February 2006 (RIO/2006/106). It was then that the Industrial Registrar informed the organisation of concerns he had about the fact that the AMIUEQ had failed to conduct any elections for several years and had not sought any exemption from holding such elections. [10] It was after this that an application for an exemption from conducting an election was prepared. As part of the application, the organisation gave notice to its membership of its intention to make the application with a notice appearing in a prominent position on the Queensland Branch of the Federal Union website since August 2006. Mr Carr's evidence is that not one member has contacted the AMIUEQ or the Queensland Branch of the Federal Union seeking any information about the notice. That application was filed on 19 December 2006 (RIO/2006/110). The Industrial Registrar expressed concerns about the filing of such application by a person who was not validly elected. [11] Ultimately the current application was filed on 5 February 2007. [12] Mr Carr's evidence is that he does not believe that the granting of this application will result in any prejudice to the membership of the AMIUEQ or the membership of the Queensland Branch of the Federal Union. The eligibility rule of both organisations is identical and no member will be disenfranchised from the internal voting processes of each organisation as a result of the granting of this application. [13] It is also the evidence of Mr Carr that the AMIUEQ has no trade creditors as all the financial affairs of the AMIUEQ, including the incurring of debts in ordinary activities, are incurred in the name of the Federal Union. The AMIUEQ does own the building at East Brisbane and does have some leasing arrangements with several tenants in respect of these premises but they will be unaffected by the granting of this application. [14] I have recently been advised that the application for a new set of rules (RIO/2006/106) and the application for an exemption from conducting an election (RIO/2006/110) were in order and could be progressed providing that an order validating the filing of the applications was granted. -- 2 of 4 -- 3 [15] Section 613 of the Act provides as follows: "613 Commission may decide (1) The commission may, on application, decide whether an invalidity has happened in- (a) the management or administration of an organisation's affairs; or (b) the election or appointment of an officer of an organisation; or (c) the making, amending or repealing of a rule of an organisation. (2) In deciding the application, the commission may declare whether or not an invalidity has happened.". [16] The failure on the part of the AMIUEQ in not conducting elections for the organisation since 1993 is an invalidity in the management or administration of the AMIUEQ's affairs within the terms of s. 613(1)(a) of the Act. I consider Mr Carr to be a person able to make an application under s. 613 of the Act by virtue of s. 614(c) of the Act. I therefore declare that invalidities have happened in the management and administration of the AMIUEQ on and from 5 April 1993 to date, by reason of the fact that no elections were conducted for officers of the AMIUEQ during that period. [17] Having declared that invalidities have happened, it is then s. 615 of the Act which deals with the orders about the effect of any such declaration. Section 615 of the Act provides as follows: "615 Orders about effects of invalidity (1) This section applies if, on the hearing of the application, the commission declares an invalidity has happened. (2) The commission may make an order it considers appropriate to- (a) remedy the invalidity or to cause it to be remedied; or (b) change or prevent, or cause to change or prevent, the effects of the invalidity; or (c) validate an act, matter or thing made invalid by or because of the invalidity. (3) The commission may also make another order consequential to an order under subsection (2). (4) The commission must not make an order under this section if the order would cause substantial injustice to- (a) the organisation that the invalidity concerns; or (b) a member or creditor of the organisation; or (c) a person dealing with or who has dealt with the organisation.". [18] Having read the application and having heard from Mr Norris on behalf of the AMIUEQ, I make the following orders:  that all decisions, acts and things done purportedly on behalf of the Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees (Queensland Branch) (AMIUEQ) by officers of the Queensland Branch of The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (the Federal Union) that have been done since 5 April 1993 to the date of this order are declared valid decisions, acts or things done on behalf of the AMIUEQ;  that the Committee of Management constituted by Russell Carr (State Secretary), Brian Crawford (Assistant State Secretary), Keith Haslem (State President), Richard Northduft (State Vice-President), Michael Ainsworth (State Treasurer), Ian McLauchlan, Matthew Journeaux, Kelly Bush, Paul Jensen, Raymond Murphy (State Organisers), Mary Bateson, Wayne Coates, John Donaldson, Kim Prange, Susan Siddell (Southern Region Committee of Management Representatives), Michael Bispeskov, Ned Sparkes, Greg Henkel (Central al Committee of Management Representatives), Fred Brunjes, Rhonda Murphy and John Evans (Northern Region Committee of Management Representatives) are to be treated as the Committee of -- 3 of 4 -- 4 Management of the AMIUEQ for all purposes until the application for exemption from holding an election (RIO/2007/22) is determined by the Industrial Registrar;  that the Evecutive constituted by Russell Carr (State Secretary), Brian Crawford (Assistant State Secretary), Keith Haslem (State President), Richard Northduft (State Vice-President), Michael Ainsworth (State Treasurer), Ian McLauchlan, Matthew Journeaux, Kelly Bush, Paul Jensen and Raymond Murphy are to be treated as the Executive of the AMIUEQ for all purposes until the application for exemption from holding an election (RIO/2007/22) is determined by the Industrial Registrar;  that the correspondence dated 14 March 2007 under the hand of Russell Carr directed to the Industrial Registrar concerning the eligibility rules of the AMIUEQ has validly been made on behalf of the AMIUEQ;  that application RIO/2007/21 made to the Industrial Registrar on 4 April 2007 seeking a new set of rules for the AMIUEQ has validly been made by the AMIUEQ; and  that application RIO/2007/22 made to the Industrial Registrar on 4 April 2007 seeking an exemption from election for the AMIUEQ has validly been made by the AMIUEQ. [19] The operative date of this decision is 2 May 2007. D.M. LINNANE, Vice President. Hearing Details: 2007 8 March 2 May Appearances: Mr L. Norris of the Queensland Council of Unions, for the Australasian Meat Industry Union of Employees (Queensland Branch). Released: 4 May 2007 Government Printer, Queensland The State of Queensland 2007. -- 4 of 4 --