By Michael Rafferty
Multiplex Constructions is set to attempt to begin work on development of the old brewery site in Perth, following a ruling last week in the WA Industrial Relations Commission.
Multiplex Constructions is the private company of one of WA Inc's few survivors, John Roberts. Last month, the state government handed Multiplex a controversial 40-year lease over the old brewery site.
On August 19, the company succeeded in getting orders from the Industrial Commission for building unions to lift their work bans on the site.
One consequence of the decision will be its effect on the WA police force. They are going to be brought into the centre of a dispute which can not be mediated.
A picket line of blacks, Christians, unionists and environmentalists will have to be breached for Multiplex to get work under way. Such a naked display of force presents many problems even as a one-off operation. With the brewery, it is likely to be necessary on a daily basis.
When the police arrested brewery protesters in a dawn raid nearly three years ago, it provoked public outrage. Since then, image-conscious officials in the police force have been trying to rebuild its tarnished reputation.
Opposition to redevelopment of the brewery remains overwhelming. Media spin has not diverted or dampened that feeling, either. Despite the lack of a sympathetic media, every opinion poll has shown that redevelopment is unpopular.
The IRC decision is being seen in Perth as provocative and politically inspired. But after the last few years, when the commission turned a blind eye to the actions of Robe River and others, the decision comes as no surprise.
Senior commissioner Halliwell concluded that the bans "served no useful industrial objective". Ironically, it is precisely the fact that unionists have been prepared to oppose redevelopment against their own apparent self-interest that has won them public support.
A remarkable feature of the hearing was a disclosure by the managing director of Multiplex that a national union official had endorsed the company's position.
This highlighted a strategy that has been a hallmark of the Multiplex method of operating: find the fault line in union politics, and pick the side that serves their current need. Multiplex was at the heart of the web of business and political links that became known as WA Inc. It is now trying to remake itself as a developer, but cannot throw off its shackles as a creature of politics. In fact, the brewery development can only cement this reputation.
Redevelopment has required a secretive deal with the Lawrence government, is intensely unpopular and has already required Multiplex to expose itself again as simply a tawdry property developer based on favours from politicians.
From Perth, Leon Harrison reports that Multiplex proposes to turn the Swan River site into a three-storey building with several restaurants, a museum, art gallery and 150-seat theatrette as well as office space and a 300-bay car park. The cost is estimated at $40 million.
An Aboriginal sacred site is on the land, and the Aboriginal community has been calling for the area to be turned into parkland.
More than 20,000 people have signed petitions supporting the parkland proposal. With active support from the WA branch of the Construction, Mining and Energy Workers Union, the TLC in 1990 took a position in opposition to the redevelopment.
CMEU acting secretary Neil Flynn said the commission's ruling would cause WA to be known as the "redneck capital of Australia".
Aboriginal activist Robert Bropho condemned the decision as racist, and WA Greens Senator Christabel Chamarette has urged federal Aboriginal affairs minister Robert Tickner to intervene.
The Ngalia Heritage Council from Wiluna also called for Tickner's intervention, and condemned the development as "a concerted effort by the financial power groups and the WA government to force development of the Swan Brewery in order to put the people down".