Labor MP Cesar Melhem avoids court, settles case related to wrongdoing at major union
Labor MP Cesar Melhem is set to avoid court, despite being subject to a four-year investigation and admitting to breaching union membership laws while state secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union.
National
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Embattled Labor MP Cesar Melhem will avoid court after admitting he breached union membership laws while state secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union.
But in a victory for Mr Melhem, the workplace watchdog that had been pursuing him — the Registered Organisations Commission — has withdrawn allegations he acted for an improper purpose, as well as charges related to his deals with union-friendly companies.
The settlement will end a four-year investigation into Mr Melhem’s tenure at the AWU, sparked by allegations first raised at the Trade Union Royal Commission.
It will come as a major relief to Mr Melhem, who was facing a lengthy and expensive court battle funded from his own pocket after the AWU refused to indemnify him for costs.
A criminal probe into his union activities was dropped last year.
The civil case ends with an agreement signed by Mr Melhem and the ROC, saying the matter would be withdrawn if he admitted to eight contraventions of the Fair Work Registered Organisation Act.
All breaches related to his management of membership lists of the union, where he was state secretary between 2007 and 2013.
The matter is now set to be referred to a Judge to determine penalties.
The civil case will have no bearing on Mr Melhem’s ability to sit in the Victorian parliament, where he was first elected to the upper house in 2014.
He stood down as Labor’s whip in the Legislative Council in 2015 when allegations of wrongdoing were first aired at the royal commission.
Originally published as Labor MP Cesar Melhem avoids court, settles case related to wrongdoing at major union