Labor has ‘opened the gates of hell’, must return building watchdog
Damning corruption claims against the CFMEU’s construction wing point to ‘the biggest rip-off of the Australian taxpayer in Australian history’, Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Thursday.
NSW
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Damning corruption claims against the CFMEU’s construction wing point to ‘the biggest rip-off of the Australian taxpayer in Australian history’, Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Thursday.
“Somehow this has come as a real revelation to Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke, they’ve never heard of it before, “ Mr Dutton told 2GB’s Ray Hadley.
“The CFMEU is the most prosecuted union in the country,” Mr Dutton said.
“I think it is the biggest rip-off of the Australian taxpayer in Australian history and when you look at the amount of money that we’re talking about on each of these projects and how that’s diverted away ultimately from the taxpayer on a hospital site or a school site, it is scandalous.
“I think the prime minister is taking the weakest possible approach to his response here by announcing an administrator being appointed, I think this has got a long way to run yet.”
Meanewhile, there are urgent calls to resurrect the national building watchdog and for Labor to hand back millions in donations after the corruption allegations sparked the party to sever ties with the militant union.
The PM and Premier Chris Minns both turned their back on one of Labor’s biggest sources of cash, the party has been urged to hand over “tainted” CFMEU donations to charity.
As Labor’s national executive prepared to formally suspend the CFMEU’s construction wing’s party affiliation today, Queensland state boss Michael Ravbar issued an extraordinary statement declaring the PM had “opened the gates of hell for thousands of workers” after he “soiled himself over some unproven allegations”.
Labor is resisting calls to repay donations from the CFMEU, suggesting it would amount to handing back money to the disgraced union.
However, Acting NSW Opposition Leader Damien Tudehope has called for NSW Labor to pay the donations and affiliation fees to charity and raise the cash from its own MPs.
“The NSW Labor Party must donate to charity the tainted funds they’ve received from the CFMEU by levying their MPs,” Mr Tudehope said.
“This is exactly what they did with the ill-gotten gains from convicted murderer Ron Medich.
“If it was good enough for Luke Foley then, it’s good enough for Chris Minns now,” he said.
Mr Dutton said the money could amount to “over $10 million worth of donations … during the Prime Minister’s time as Labor Leader”.
Employment Minister Tony Burke was yesterday forced to assign an external administrator to scrutinise the CFMEU, and the Federal Police were called in to investigate possible criminal activity within its ranks, as the federal opposition demanded a return to strong protections on the nation’s construction sites.
Premier Minns moved to sever ties with the CFMEU’s construction wing over bribery charges levelled against NSW Secretary Darren Greenfield.
Mr Greenfield is alleged to have received a series of $5000 bribes from a construction company, between 2018 and 2020. He has denied wrongdoing and is still before the courts.
After calling for Mr Greenfield to be stood down as the CFMEU’s NSW boss on Monday, Mr Minns moved to cut ties with the union itself yesterday – after photos of one alleged bribe were revealed.
“The CFMEU construction division is either unable or unwilling to reform its leadership in the face of devastating allegations that are of a very serious nature,” he said.
Labor’s National Executive will meet today and is set to suspend the CFMEU’s construction division from the party nationwide.
The NSW ALP supported disaffiliation with the union but referred the matter to the federal party.
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called for Mr Albanese to reintroduce the ABCC as soon as next month, while frontbencher Michael Sukkar said reinstating the watchdog was a “no-brainer”.
In July 2022, two months after Labor won the federal election, new Employment Minister Tony Burke assisted the CFMEU by scrapping the powerful ABCC, which had been highly successful in holding the CFMEU to account.
The ABCC had prosecuted more than 100 cases of unlawful behaviour on building sites over the previous eight years, totalling $17.7 million in fines.
The CFMEU made up 90 per cent of their total penalties.
Mr Minns said it would be “fair” to donate CFMEU money to charity but ruled it out as the cash would need to be raised by “mum and dad” donors.
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