Coalition agrees to CFMEU deal after 'significant amendments' made
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The news: The beleaguered Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) will be barred from making political donations while under administration, as part of an agreement struck between Labor and the Coalition.
The context: Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash confirmed on Monday that the Coalition would back Labor’s move to place the union under administration, but only after extracting a “series of very significant amendments” to its original plan.
The compromises include a ban on the CFMEU making donations while under administration, which is likely to impact Labor’s bottom line. The CFMEU directly donated $1.9 million to Labor in the lead up to the 2022 election.
The government has also accepted the Coalition’s demand for a minimum administration period of three years, with the administrator to report to parliament twice a year.
The negotiations came after new Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt announced that Labor would seek the power to impose an administrator on the CFMEU, after allegations of alleged criminal infiltration.
The CFMEU was resisting attempts to impose an administrator in court.
What they said: “We do not want the government to be able to set and forget and I am pleased that the administrator will be reporting to the parliament in a certain format every six months," Cash said in at a press conference.
The source: Michaelia Cash press conference
