NEWS DESK
Record penalty for labour hire firm AN unlicensed labour hire company that provided workers to farms in Rosebud, Devon Meadows, Koo Wee Rup and Torquay has been issued a total penalty of $617,916 – the highest in Australian history for breaches of labour hire law. A L Star Express, of Keysborough, was found to have knowingly and repeatedly contravened the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic) when it supplied workers to four separate horticulture businesses, without holding a labour hire licence. The workers jobs included picking fruit and vegetables and other horticulture tasks. In its judgement, the Supreme Court of Victoria noted that the contraventions “must be characterised as serious”, that the penalty “needs to be sufficiently high not to be the ‘price of doing business’”, and that licensing obligations could not be avoided by supplying workers through an intermediary business. “I refer to the knowing and repeated nature of the contraventions, and the extent of the THE Beleura Cliff Path runs from Mills Beach to Caraar Creek Lane, Mornington. Picture: Benjamen Casey
Meeting over path’s future A PUBLIC meeting will be held next week to discuss the future of the Beleura cliff path, Mornington, which has been closed due to a landslide. The Save Our Cliff Path community group says there is a 50 per cent chance of the path being permanently closed.
The path runs from Mills Beach to Caraar Creek Lane. The public meeting will be held at 5pm on Monday 11 December at Mornington Yacht Club. The meeting has been organised by the Save Our Cliff Path community group.
contraventions, namely over several months, and affecting at least sixteen workers,” the judgement stated. As well as prosecuting alleged contraventions of the Act, the Labour Hire Authority, which led the prosecutions, can remove labour hire providers’ ability to operate in Victoria by refusing, suspending, or cancelling their licence. Licensing commissioner Steve Dargavel said labour hire workers picking fruit and vegetables were among Victoria’s most vulnerable and it was critical that the companies employing them were appropriately vetted and licensed to operate. “Dodgy labour hire providers who pay workers as little as $17 an hour have no place in our industry and will be held to account,” he said. “Significant penalties also apply for engaging unlicensed labour hire providers, so Victorian businesses should always check the LHA website to ensure their provider holds a current licence.”
Riders’s convoy delivers toys for appeal A CONVOY of up to 400 motorbikes travelled from Frankston to Rosebud Secondary College on Saturday to deliver hundreds of toys for the Food For All Christmas Appeal. The riders gathered at Frankston pier in the morning before the police traffic management team closed Nepean Highway for 10 minutes at 9.30am to allow them to leave as a group. The next stop was at the Dromana
information centre where they filled up the triangle space before following the coast road to Rosebud. The riders arrived at the secondary college in Eastbourne Road at about 11am, in time for morning tea and a sausage sizzle, as they unloaded their toys. Donations vcan be made at: foodforall. com.au
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FRANKSTON BOWLS CLUB Cnr Yuille St & Williams St, FRANKSTON Monday 11th December - 11AM to 3PM SORRENTO RSL 1/3 Hurley Street, SORRENTO Friday 15th December - 11AM to 3PM Mornington News
5 December 2023
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