State Labor governments are distancing themselves from the CFMEU, handballing damning claims against the embattled union to police and anti-corruption watchdogs.
The powerful union is in turmoil following allegations bikies and organised crime figures have infiltrated the Victorian branch, with accusations of bribery in NSW.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the union’s “rotten culture” must be pulled out by its roots and has asked the ALP national executive to suspend its construction arm from the Victorian Labor Party.
NSW Premier Chris Minns meanwhile believes CFMEU state secretary Darren Greenfield “should go” while facing bribery charges.
“They’re before the court, they couldn’t be more serious and it’s hard to think or see how he can continue,” he said.
Ms Allan said what had been revealed about the CFMEU in recent days “isn’t unionism”.
“It’s thuggish, unacceptable behaviour at its worst,” she said.
“The union itself has acknowledged it needs to fix its conduct and shouldn’t have anything to do with the Victorian branch of the Labor Party until it does.”
Ms Allan has written to Victorian Labor’s state secretary to request the party immediately stop accepting CFMEU donations.
The claims, aired by Nine newspapers following a months-long investigation, have been referred to Victoria Police and the state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.
Both are assessing the matter.
The Allan government has also pledged to toughen anti-bikie laws, launch an independent review to strengthen the powers of construction-linked state agencies and push the federal government to review and potentially terminate the union’s enterprise agreements on Victorian construction sites.
Long-time Victorian union boss John Setka stepped down from his position on Friday, citing “false accusations” and “malicious attacks”.
The national executive of the CFMEU has put the Victorian branch into administration but national secretary Zach Smith opposes deregistration.
“We should be careful about denying workers and construction workers a voice in the political process,” he told AAP.
The union will co-operate with any police and corruption investigations but the donations ban was not a priority for him at this point, Mr Smith said.
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto accused Ms Allan of allowing the union’s “rotten culture” to flourish and branded her response “pathetic”.
“How much more serious, how much more violent, how much more thuggish does the CFMEU have to be before Premier Jacinta Allan boots them entirely from taxpayer-funded projects?” he said.
Ms Allan denied she had been “asleep at the wheel” as the state’s transport infrastructure minister from 2018 to 2023.
“During my time as minister, and now as premier, I have been absolutely clear that I have no tolerance at all for bullying, intimidatory behaviour in any workplace,” she said.
Ms Allan said she did not know Mr Setka well, despite attending the 2023 funeral of his father, a labourer who survived the 1970 West Gate Bridge collapse.
Any CFMEU official under criminal investigation should consider their position and stand down, pending the result, she said.
Mr Minns said there was no room for criminality in the construction sector and any allegations would be referred to the state industrial relations inspectorate.
He suggested no political donations had been made by the union to NSW Labor since he demanded Mr Greenfield’s suspension from the party in 2021.
“We won’t take donations from them other than affiliation fees,” he said.
Queensland Public Works Minister Meaghan Scanlon said she was concerned by the claims of bullying and standover tactics and similarly called for anyone with allegations of criminal wrongdoing to come forward.
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