CFMEU Qld-NT report: Millions in unexplained cash, property revealed

An audit of the militant and embattled CFMEU has revealed a string of alarming transactions over the past five years.

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Millions in unexplained cash transfers and missing property sales contracts have been uncovered in a major report exposing the secret financial dealings of Queensland’s CFMEU branches.

A KordaMentha financial audit of the national CFMEU and each of the union’s branches, on behalf of administrator Mark Irving KC, has revealed a string of alarming transactions over the past five years.

They include an unexplained $272,946 cash variance made just seven days after Mr Irving’s appointment in August 2024, following bombshell revelations the union was plagued with violence and corruption.

Investigators flagged a series of cash transfers that don’t align with monthly financial disclosures, including payments to suppliers exceeding $5.5m – quadruple the usual monthly expenses – also made in August.

The Queensland branch in 2021 shifted a staggering $7.7m in retained earnings to its counterpart – the CFMEUQ – but no explanation was recorded on what the cash transfer was for.

As of March 2024, CFMEUQ owned land and buildings valued at approximately $16m across six properties in Queensland and one in the Northern Territory, as well as nine investment properties and one development project with a total value of $18.4m.

Of the CFMEUQ’s nine investment properties, five are missing sale contracts.

The union splashed out on three new properties this year – 16 Jamieson St ($2.8m), 12 Jamieson Street ($2.2m), and 8 Jamieson St ($150,000), all in Brisbane’s Bowen Hills.

CFMEU flags at an inner Brisbane construction site last week

These purchases, funded partly by a $3m loan from the national CFMEU office, contributed to a $5m spike in property values between July and August 2024.

Meanwhile, the union spent $6.2m on legal fees between 2020-21 and 2024-25 - including $2.3m in 2022 for fines and settlements from the Australian Building and Construction Commission court proceedings.

CFMEUQ is represented by Hall Payne Lawyers, who pocketed $700,000 in the 2024-25 financial year when former state secretary Michael Ravbar launched an unsuccessful challenge against the Administration in the High Court.

The report made several recommendationsfor all CFMEU branches to follow a uniform financial disclosure process.

KordaMentha has also flagged other expense categories like organising, postage, printing and Labour Day costs be subject to further investigation.

It also reported unexplained transactions to suppliers and $272k cash variance should be scrutinised, alongside a reported $1.6m in grant income, which the union’s financial controller denied receiving.

The report’s recommendations that financial discrepancies be further investigated will be included in the state government’s commission of inquiry.

Deputy Premier and Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie said the KordaMentha report raised more questions than it answered.

“The report calls for nine further investigations into suspicious transactions and financial irregularities in the Queensland CFMEU and will be a subject of the Commission of Inquiry,” he said.

“Only a broad-based Commission of Inquiry will have the powers to expose this sinister underbelly of the construction industry.”

The Administrator refused to confirm if further investigations would be launched as per the KordaMentha recommendations.

“The Administrator continues to work on a wide range of issues arising from the CFMEU reports in Queensland,” a CFMEU spokesperson said.

“At this stage, the Administrator will not be releasing any further details on these reports, investigations and actions.

“We remain committed to the task before us.”

Originally published as CFMEU Qld-NT report: Millions in unexplained cash, property revealed