A hearing into accusations of cartel conduct by the construction union and its ACT secretary will not proceed until next year.
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The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union and ACT secretary Jason O'Mara are each charged with two counts of attempting to induce the territory's steelfixing and scaffolding businesses to engage in cartel conduct.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges and Mr O'Mara did not appear in court on Tuesday.
It was decided the matter would not return to court until April next year to give the defendants and the prosecution an opportunity to finalise evidence and negotiate.
The matter will be subject to a 10 day committal hearing in the ACT Magistrates Court before it is decided whether it will be transferred to a superior court.
The defence lawyer for both the union and Mr O'Mara said the matter would need to be transferred to the Federal Court of Australia and suggested it would be the first jury trial in the Federal Court in Canberra.
He also said Mr O'Mara could face a possible 10 year prison sentence and the CFMMEU a $1 million fine if found guilty.
Acting Chief Magistrate Glenn Theakston granted the defence's application to cross-examine 22 witnesses that will be called at the committal hearing.
The charges were originally brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission which alleged the union and Mr O'Mara attempted to "induce suppliers of steelfixing services and scaffolding services to reach cartel contracts, arrangements or understandings containing cartel provisions in relation to services provided to builders in the ACT in 2012 to 2013".
Cartel conduct is when businesses agree to collude instead of compete against each other.
When the charges were brought the union indicated it would vigorously defend against them and said the charges were politically motivated and "not much of a step [away] from fascism".
The matter will return to court in April next year.