Ark Tribe (born circa 1962 - 18 May 2018) was an Australian

construction worker A construction worker is a person employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definitions By some definitions, construction workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers ...

and unionist who was prosecuted for refusing to attend a meeting with investigators from the

Australian Building and Construction Commission The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) was an independent, statutory authority of the Australian Government, responsible for promoting understanding and enforcing workplace relations compliance in the Australian building and ...

(ABCC) in 2008. He was acquitted on 24 November 2010, an event with significant political implications for Australian labour politics.

Background

Following the controversial

Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry The Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry, or informally the Cole Royal Commission, was a Royal Commission established by the Government of Australia, Australian government to inquire into and report upon alleged misconduc ...

(2001–2003), established by the

Howard government The Howard government refers to the Government of Australia, federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal Party of Australia, Li ...

, the ABCC was created in 2005, to regulate industrial relations in the Australian construction sector. Consequently, the activities of the

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union The Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) is Australia's largest Trade union, union in the construction, forestry, wikt:maritime, maritime, Textile manufacturing, textile, Clothing industry, clothing and Shoemaking, footw ...

(CFMEU), as well as other unions, were restricted more than unions in other industries. Critics alleged that the ABCC focussed exclusively on attacking workers and ignored violations of safety and non-payment of wages by employers. Construction workers alleged to have engaged in unauthorised union activities could be forced to attend meetings with ABCC investigators. Failure to cooperate was punishable by

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

terms of up to six months.

Prosecution

In 2008, Ark Tribe attended a safety meeting at a construction site at

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

, in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. Workers at the meeting discussed ongoing safety concerns at the site and carried out a union investigation into conditions before resuming work. The ABCC afterward summoned Tribe to a meeting to determine the legality of their actions. When he refused to obey, prosecutors for the ABCC commenced legal proceedings against him. Steven Dolphin, the Principal of specialist industrial law firm Lieschke & Weatherill Lawyers, and prominent Adelaide silk Michael Abbott QC, represented Tribe throughout his lengthy court proceedings. The CFMEU and supporters turned out to protest at court proceedings, with hundreds present for the first day of his trial on 15 June 2010, including prominent international

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

campaigners

Gerry Conlon Gerard Patrick Conlon (1 March 1954 – 21 June 2014) was an Irish man known for being one of the Guildford Four who spent 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of being a Provisional IRA bomber. Biography Gerard Conlon was born in ...

and Paddy Hill. On 24 November 2010, Ark Tribe was cleared of the charges against him. The decision had political implications for the relationship between the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

and the

union movement The Union Movement (UM) was a far-right political party founded in the United Kingdom by Oswald Mosley. Before the Second World War, Mosley's British Union of Fascists (BUF) had wanted to concentrate trade within the British Empire, but the ...

, especially with regards to the latter's campaign to have the

abolished.

References

External links

Ark Tribe Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tribe, Ark Australian trade unionists 1960s births 2018 deaths