Secret ‘cocaine, alcohol’ CFMEU parties uncovered; Ben Davison vile rant exposed
A secret CFMEU shed at a major building site was decked out with top-shelf alcohol and a black coffee table that sources claim was used to snort lines of cocaine.
Covert photographs have revealed a secret shed on a major building site allegedly used for “cocaine and alcohol fuelled” parties.
The area set aside for the CFMEU was decked out with a flat screen television, top shelf alcohol, and a black coffee table sources claim was used to snort lines of cocaine.
The area was set aside for the union at a high rise development in Melbourne, with CCTV monitoring the entrances.
“It was the worst kept secret on site … (they) would turn up, go downstairs and come back up off their heads,” a source on the site said.
“Some of them couldn’t walk after being down there. It was a joke.”
Insiders are also concerned about the sale and use of ice on building sites.
Photographs also show CFMEU hard hats emblazoned with stickers referencing the Ustasha – a Nazi-backed far right Croatian group accused of genocide in World War Two.
The details emerged a year after the CFMEU was placed into administration, which was supposed to clean up the industry.
But building industry sources say that intimidation on building sites was worse now.
“Nothing has changed, 12 months into the administration, if anything, things have got worse, not better,” a source said.
“The inaction on the important issues of cleaning up corruption has been a huge disappointment to the members of the union.”
The photographs of the shop stewards “shed” were from a building site in Melbourne, which has now been completed.
The CFMEU’s 2024-2027 agreement states that workers “must not bring and/or have any alcohol or drugs in their possession or control at the workplace.”
“Any unauthorised supply of alcohol and/or other drugs in the workplace is prohibited and shall result in … instant removal from the workplace.”
It can also be revealed that an executive hired to clean up the union has been exposed for calling a woman a “whore” and a “lying disrespectful bitch”.
Concerns have separately been raised about Ben Davison – the CFMEU’s Acting Branch Executive Officer in Canberra.
In a blog post on LiveJournal, Mr Davison, who was a former chief of staff to ACTU secretary Sally McManus and a current board member of Australian Super, attacked a former girlfriend.
“I told her she was dead to me. I told her she was a lying disrespectful bitch. I told her I hope she dies,” the post, which was accompanied with a photo of Mr Davison, said.
“Girls take being called a whore and told you would like them dead in a funny way.”
The post was written on April 6, 2007, but insiders claim it was relevant because CFMEU administrator Mark Irving, KC, had published a report in July outlining concerns about violence and threats against women in the Queensland construction industry.
The report, compiled by barrister Geoffrey Watson, KC, highlighted threats made against women working in the industry, including how the 21-year-old daughter of a health and safety inspector was approached outside her gym and shown a video of her father who was called a “f***ing c***”.
Mr Davison was approached for comment and confirmed that he had written the post but deferred to the administrator to respond on his behalf.
The administrator said in a statement: “These are comments from a post nearly 18 years ago, and the views are not held by Mr Davison. Mr Davison is a person of great integrity and very well respected.”
The administrator did not respond to questions about the images of the shop stewards shed, the Ustasha symbols on hard hats and his 12 months in charge of the union.
The CFMEU was placed into administration for up to five years on August 23, 2024 after allegations the union had been infiltrated by organised crime.
It remains one of Australia’s most cashed up unions, with $310 million in cash and assets.
Mr Irving was forced to hire security at union offices across the country after threats from bikie groups who were angry about the union being put under his control.
He has suffered health problems this year and is currently off work for several weeks after undergoing a procedure for heart problems.
There have been questions raised about some of the decisions made during the administration, particularly the move to appoint John Perkovic as a construction co-ordinator in Victoria.
Mr Perkovic – who was close to former CFMEU secretary John Setka – was captured on video in 2014 abusing and harassing a building industry inspector.
Mr Setka broke his silence after Mr Perkovic’s role was announced, calling in a talkback radio station in Melbourne, saying “no-one has been charged”.
“Whatever the CFMEU, they get hard done by, I mean they’re the local punching bag,” he said.
A former CFMEU delegate in Queensland, Anthony Thomas Perrett, was last week charged with torture.
Mr Perrett, who was denied bail, is the brother-in-law of former Queensland CFMEU powerbroker Jade Ingham.
