CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith said he would use his office’s new powers to immediately establish an independent process to investigate any credible allegations of wrongdoing. Photo: CFMEU VIC.
Allegations that “deep infiltration of underworld figures into the CFMEU” Victorian branch have made waves across the nation, with Labor premiers calling on their party to deregister the union’s construction division.
Over the weekend, an investigation by Nine Newspapers claimed that criminal elements had risen through the ranks of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) into executive positions. The report found these delegates had received hundreds of thousands of dollars to work on government-funded projects at the state and Commonwealth levels.
The evening before the investigation’s publication, CFMEU Victoria’s branch secretary John Setka resigned after 12 years in the role.
“[The] decision is in response to the ongoing and relentless stories written with multiple allegations, whether true or not, about this great union,” he said.
“These stories have been constant, and while I’ve been the target of many of them, enough is enough, the ongoing false allegations continually do nothing but harm the work this great union does for its members.”
Following an emergency meeting of the CFMEU’s national executive yesterday morning (15 July), the union’s national office has assumed all senior executive powers of the joint Victoria/Tasmania branch and placed it into administration.
The CFMEU’s South Australian branch has also been placed into administration due to it being under Victorian control. SA Deputy Premier Susan Close said while there was no evidence of “bikies'” involvement in the branch’s operations, police were investigating and the state’s construction sites would be audited.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas has joined Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan and Tasmania’s Labor leader Dean Winter in writing to their respective states’ Labor Party executives, asking for them to suspend affiliation with the CFMEU’s construction division. The latter two politicians have also instructed their parties to not accept any donations from the union.
While similar demands have been made to Queensland’s Premier Steven Miles in disaffiliating from the CFMEU’s state branch, no action has been taken yet.
The recently stood-down executive team of Victoria’s CFMEU branch (from left): Derek Christopher, Elias Spernovasilis, Robert Graauwmans, John Setka, Joe Myles and Mick Myles. Photo: CFMEU VIC.
At a press conference yesterday, Premier Allan said she had referred these matters to Victoria Police and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) – as they “have the appropriate powers to investigate or refer allegations of corruption and criminal activity”.
“The conduct of unions is regulated under federal not state laws,” she said. “I will join forces with the Prime Minister to do whatever needs to be done.
“We will toughen anti-bikie laws to make it easier for police and courts to prevent certain individuals from associating with each other.
“We will request the Federal Government exercise its powers under the Fair Work Act to review – and if necessary, terminate – CFMEU enterprise bargaining agreements on Victorian construction sites to prevent criminal activity.
“We will undertake an independent review to strengthen the power of Victorian Government agencies who are engaged with construction companies and construction unions.”
The Victorian Premier said this review would be led by an “eminent” expert in consultation with the Commonwealth, and that her government would also look at the ability of the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority to direct the removal of individuals with criminal associations from worksites.
In response to the allegations, Master Builders Australia implored the Prime Minister and all state leaders to urgently explore all possible options “to clean up this mess”.
“It’s clear the industrial relations system in building and construction is broken,” the peak construction body’s statement said. “The CFMEU accounts for less than 10 per cent of industry participants but their unyielding stranglehold on builders, subbies, and clients has gone on for long enough.
“The investigation confirms what we have heard from builders on the ground: ongoing coercion and bullying tactics employed by union representatives to accept pattern EBA conditions including who they can and can’t hire on site.
“There have been four royal commissions, hundreds of court judgments, and dozens of other reports and independent inquiries that forensically examined the unlawful and illegal conduct of building unions.
“They all reached the same conclusion – there are problems unique to building and construction, and therefore there is a need for an industry-specific workplace regulator or specific rules for the industry.”
After yesterday’s emergency meeting, CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith said he would use his office’s new powers to immediately establish an independent process, overseen by a leading legal figure, to investigate any credible allegations of wrongdoing.
“The CFMEU has one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to defend and advance the safety and conditions of workers,” Mr Smith said.
“The Victorian branch has been hugely successful in pursuing this purpose, but the national executive also recognises that a number of recent allegations are serious and demand an unprecedented response.
“The national office will be uncompromising in cleaning up whatever wrongdoing we find because we know that blue-collar workers depend on our union being strong and effective.”
