Away from official positions,the premier is quietly assembling the key members of her squad.
The decision is a win for unions and health experts campaigning for a ban on the silicosis-causing material.
Major manufacturer Caesarstone has hired Labor lobbying firm Hawker Britton to help fight a potential ban on the use of deadly silica in kitchen benchtops.
A powerful union leader has accused the federal government of betraying tradies after Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke warned banning the importation of toxic engineered stone would greenlight its production in Australia.
Sources say one option put forward by the Safe Work Australia report,expected to be released on Friday,is an all-out ban of the product.
Premier Daniel Andrews and his MPs could be banned from doing press conferences at their own Big Build sites as unions threaten to bar them from photo opportunities if the state bans duck hunting.
CFMMEU national secretary Zach Smith says ordinary Australians cannot afford to see the two bodies stacked with “captains of industry with little insight into their daily struggles”.
The Construction,Forestry,Mining,Maritime and Energy Union wants to levy the profits of major corporations to help plug an estimated shortfall of 760,000 affordable and social homes.
The unveiling of Labor’s new construction body comes after it abolished the union-busting Australian Building and Construction Commission.
While the broader union movement is backing a Yes campaign,the Victorian and Tasmanian branch of the CFMEU won’t be taking a position either way.
Australia’s $3.4 billion apprenticeship scheme has led to poor training and high dropout rates,construction industry representatives say.