Govt to legislate against any challenge to CFMEU sanction: PM says
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More news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government will legislate against any challenge to the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) being placed under administration, insisting his government “acted swiftly” once allegations of criminality were aired.
While Labor has not deregistered the union — Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke argued that would not be effective — Albanese said “nothing will be taken off the table”. The prime minister said administrators would be appointed “very quickly” by the Fair Work Commissioner
Albanese said the revelations had “shamed the people involved”, stressing he expelled John Setka from the Labor Party soon after becoming leader in 2019.
What they said: Speaking in Brisbane on Wednesday, Albanese said: “I have no tolerance for the sort of behaviour that we've seen from John Setka, and I have no tolerance for the behaviour that's been exposed in recent days … We see wrongdoing and we have acted. We've acted swiftly".
'Weakest possible response': Dutton on government's CFMEU sanction
More news: Coalition leader Peter Dutton has described the appointment of an administrator to oversee the embattled Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) as “the weakest possible response” from the government, demanding the union be deregistered entirely.
Dutton predicted revelations in the Nine newspapers, including allegations that the union had been infiltrated by organised crime gangs, were “just scratching the surface”. The opposition leader also feared the saga would prove the “biggest defrauding of the Australian taxpayer in our country's history”, after allegations had seen building costs skyrocket.
Dutton demanded the government cease taking donations from the CFMEU — Labor received $1 million from its construction branch before the 2022 election — and “quarantine” the money it had already received, but stopped short of calling for it to return the funds.
What they said: In a press conference immediately after industrial relations minister Tony Burke, Dutton said: “[It’s] like going into one of the bikie organisation and the police saying: ‘Let's just change out the leadership here, and put in an administrator and somehow the activities of the bikies will correct itself’. It's a complete nonsense. It's an abrogation of the Prime Minister's responsibility”.
Embattled CFMEU placed under independent administration
The news: An independent administrator has been appointed to run the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) after allegations it has been infiltrated by bikie gangs.
The context: The Nine newspapers have published a series of articles alleging criminality within the CFMEU, including links to organised crime groups.
Industrial relations minister Tony Burke revealed on Wednesday that the high-profile union would be placed under an independent administrator, to be appointed by the Fair Work Commission.
Burke described the measure as the toughest possible response available to the government, ruling out deregistering the organisation altogether, which he argued would not stop the CFMEU acting as bargaining agents.
Burke described calls for Labor to return money donated by the CFMEU to the union as “absurd”, but said whether Labor would cease taking future donations was a matter for the party’s national executive.
John Setka, the controversial secretary of the CFMEU’s Victorian branch, resigned last week. National secretary Zach Smith voiced his support for Setka this week and called for the matter to be handled within the union itself.
Burke confirmed he had written to Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw asking him to investigate allegations of criminality, alongside state police. He has also requested the Fair Work Ombudsman review all enterprise agreements made by the CFMEU's Victorian construction division on big build projects in the state.
What they said: Speaking to reporters at Parliament House, Burke said: “The number one job of any union is to look after its members … The reported behaviour from the construction division of the CFMEU is the exact opposite of that obligation. It's abhorrent. It's intolerable".
The sources: Industrial relations minister Tony Burke press conference, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton press conference, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese press conference
