Premier Peter Malinauskas to ask Labor’s national executive to suspend CFMEU affiliation as SA branch is put into administration

The SA arm of the CFMEU, which had been under the control of the Victorian branch, has also been put into administration.

Premier Peter Malinauskas will ask Labor’s national executive to suspend affiliation with the construction division of the CFMEU until investigations into allegations of criminal activity are complete.

The Victorian branch of the union and the South Australian branch, which was under Victorian control, were placed into administration on Monday and are now being run by the national office.

The move followed allegations of criminal conduct by the CFMEU on Victorian government worksites.

Victorian CFMEU secretary John Setka resigned from his role on Friday but denied any wrongdoing, describing reports as “false accusations” and “malicious attacks”.

Acting Premier Susan Close said the connection between the Victorian and South Australian branches meant “we can’t pretend that it’s just something that affects the Victorians”.

Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Keryn Stevens

CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“What the Premier has decided is to write to the secretary of the Australian Labor Party and say that the construction division of the CFMEU needs to have its affiliation to our party suspended while these allegations are fully investigated,” she said.

“While there is no evidence of any nefarious activity here in South Australia, the Premier has already spoken to the Commissioner for Police to undertake investigations so that we can ensure that that’s not come over the border to South Australia.

But equally, while that branch is under administration chosen by the head of the union in Canberra, we think it’s appropriate that the affiliation to the Labor Party be suspended and the Premier’s put that in writing today.”

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has made the same request, and asked both Victoria Police and the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commissioner (IBAC) to investigate the allegations.

CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith, who is now in control of the South Australian branch, said the union would assist with local investigations where appropriate, but he was not aware of allegations of wrongdoing.

“The Premier is entitled to ask the Police Commissioner to look into such things but, from all of the information I have, this investigation by Channel 9/Fairfax doesn’t cover any allegations that relate to the South Australian construction industry,” he said.

“If there’s any wrongdoing that’s alleged in any state by our union, the commitment is very clear. We will investigate any wrongdoing, and if people have done the wrong thing they’ll be removed from our union. We don’t tolerate criminality in our union.”

Mr Smith said the national office was committed to returning the South Australian branch to local leadership “at some point”, after the Setka-led Victorian branch took control in 2022.

But he said it was difficult to put a timeline on the return.

“I just need to deal with the things that are immediately in front of us right now,” he said.