PUT BRAKES ON HOONS

A SIMPLE change to a Queensland law will put an end to hoons wreaking havoc on the Gold Coast, according to the Police Union.

It wants the State Government to make owners of cars used in hooning incidents, culpable for the crime.

THE building firm behind a Southport tower hit by protest action yesterday has hit back at claims it is not up to standard, calling it a union “stunt”.

Plastering contractors at the 120 Marine Parade site claim they lost the job after raising concerns about plaster and fire safety standards. They rallied with placards and 20 members of construction union, the CFMEU.

Gordon Wallace of Philip Usher Constructions rubbished the claims: “You have the union who want to use this as leverage and try to unionise something that isn’t.”

Troy Clothier claimed he and a fellow tradie were let go in June after raising concerns with the construction firm.

“I brought it up many times, with my superiors in regards to how it is carried out and it is all wrong, and we got terminated,” Mr Clothier alleged.

“We were told to leave site for speaking out,” he claimed.

Mr Wallace hit back: “If there was something genuine they would have written to us, would have contacted the right authorities but none of that happened. All of a sudden we wake up in the morning and find a demonstration from a union.

“No one has been removed for raising a genuine issue regarding safety, that’s nonsense,” he said. “The building is nearly ready to go on the market. It couldn’t come at a worse time.”

Mr Wallace said the company was forced to defend itself to “virtually every authority” involved with construction and public safety.

He claimed an investigation by watchdog, the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) found the building was in order.

“We had to get fresh certification to prove we are squeaky clean … we’ve had it certified.”

The CFMEU’s Scott Vink denied the site was singled out for being non-union and said the union was looking at a number of Gold Coast sites.

A QBCC spokesman said it and an independent engineer inspected the area complained about with defects identified since and “rectified by the builder as a result of the QBCC’s involvement”.