Jeff Kennett: CFMEU cannot be trusted to investigate itself with any credibility

Any review into the CFMEU will have no credibility if Labor-aligned legal firms or judges are appointed.

The alleged crimes against society, the disclosures about the actions of the leadership of the CFMEU should come as no surprise to anyone.

Any union has a responsibility to act in the interest of its members, but not through extortion, blackmail or threats.

The federal body of the CFMEU has put the Victorian branch into administration. And the federal secretary says they will conduct an independent review of the Victorian branch by a legal firm.

Any review will have no credibility if a known Labor legal firm is appointed. The same applies to any practising or retired judge who may be considered for the review and was appointed to the bench by Labor.

CFMEU boss John Setka resigned on Friday. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

The CFMEU cannot investigate itself with any credibility.

The practices that have been outlined to date justify a royal commission.

The federal government must establish the royal commission into the CFMEU, because quite simply, and based on past practice, the state government cannot be trusted to establish an independent commission.

The commission must be headed by a qualified, independent legal figure of the quality of former High Court judge Ken Hayne who conducted the inquiry into our banking industry with such a piercing effect.

Such a royal commission should have the powers to call union officials, the heads of construction companies and previous and current ministers. It should be empowered to requisition bank accounts of the union, and any union, corporate and political individuals.

There is no doubt that the activities of the CFMEU have been a contributing factor to the blowout in costs and delays in delivering major infrastructure projects.

Former High Court judge Ken Hayne.

It is also a fact that Jacinta Allan was the Minister for Infrastructure before being elevated to the premiership by her party, and allegedly has ignored the advice she received of malpractice by the CFMEU.

I would claim that neither the Premier nor those close to her have had any experience in putting together and overseeing large projects and contracts, let alone massive ones that are being built or still to be completed.

Allan, her government ministers and their staff have been putty in the hands of the CFMEU.

Those who might be called before the commission should not be allowed to get away with answers such as ex-Premier Daniel Andrews and his ministers who gave the hotel quarantine inquiry answers of “I don’t remember”.

Rank and file members of the CFMEU are hard-working individuals who have benefited from the wins secured by their leadership.

The question is how those benefits were secured, and were illegal acts or threats involved. What was the role of corporate leaders, and why did the government and its leaders consistently give in to demands that were made by the CFMEU?

The generational debt that the Andrews/Allan government is leaving for our grandchildren demands answers, and also future good practices and governance. None of which have been in evidence by the Andrews/Allan governments.

Only the federal government can establish a royal commission into the CFMEU, and maybe it is only the Victorian Branch, because the Victorian government has lost the trust of the Victorian community.