Wotherspoon v Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union

The case of Wotherspoon v Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union [2010] FCA 111 was heard in the Federal Court of Australia and involved an application by John Wotherspoon, an Australian Building and Construction Inspector, seeking declarations and penalties for alleged contraventions of section 38 of the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (Cth). The respondents, including the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia, and several individual organisers, admitted to the contraventions but contested the proposed penalties. The legal issues centred on whether the court should accept the agreed penalties or determine appropriate penalties in accordance with the circumstances of the contraventions and the need to sustain public confidence in the statutory regime. The court found that, while it should give weight to the parties' agreement, it was not obliged to accept it if the penalties were manifestly inadequate or excessive. The court decided to decline to proceed with the agreed penalties and instead list the proceeding for directions to allow the parties to make further submissions regarding the future conduct of the case.