Building Bad
A months-long investigation into the CFMEU has uncovered rife infiltration by bikies and organised criminals, intimidation and allegations of corruption.
Exclusive
Building bad: How bikies, underworld have become a construction industry ‘cancer’
A months-long investigation featuring secret surveillance reveals how bikies, criminals and underworld figures have infiltrated the building industry, including on large publicly funded projects.
- by Nick McKenzie, David Marin-Guzman and Ben Schneiders
Exclusive
‘Everyone eats’: Secret audio lays bare CFMEU kickback plan
A fixer has been caught on tape offering to set up kickbacks to union officials to win work for a company as police evidence mounts against John Setka’s anointed successor over suspected corruption.
- by Nick McKenzie, David Marin-Guzman, Ben Schneiders and Amelia Ballinger
Exclusive
Warning on CFMEU intimidation sent to Allan, Albanese in 2022
A construction company battling CFMEU standover tactics wrote to top Labor politicians detailing their trouble and offering proof.
- by Nick McKenzie, David Marin-Guzman and Ben Schneiders
Exclusive
Bikie enforcer kept senior CFMEU role despite assault charges
The Bandidos sergeant-at-arms sat on the governing board of the John Setka-led union branch, working as an organiser on major Victorian government projects.
- by David Marin-Guzman and Nick McKenzie
Exclusive
CFMEU boss allegedly bragged of corrupt contract connections at $94b super fund
Police allege the high-ranking official boasted to corrupt building firms that he could secure them lucrative jobs on construction projects financed by superannuation giant Cbus.
- by Nick McKenzie, David Marin-Guzman and Ben Schneiders
Opinion
Building union officials are the toughest people I know, but unity is a two-way street
It is regretful that the ACTU has had to take steps to suspend the CFMEU, but it had no choice if it wanted to protect the interests of working people.
- by Bill Kelty
Premier defends Victoria’s CFMEU inquiry and says investigator will have access to senior MPs
Jacinta Allan has vowed the government-appointed investigator will be able to speak to ministers – including herself – about claims against the CFMEU.
- by Broede Carmody
The footballer, the underworld and the union deal that exposes construction’s dark secrets
When Faruk Orman aligned with ex-AFL goalsneak Kayne Pettifer to secure CFMEU support for a labour-hire firm, it was a case study in underworld figures monetising union backing.
- by Nick McKenzie and David Marin-Guzman
State government review of troubled construction sector to report back within six weeks
Victoria’s independent review into the construction sector will provide an interim report by late August and a final report by the end of November.
- by Broede Carmody
Analysis
The backers who allowed John Setka’s rise to ultimate power
Five years ago, the head of Australia’s union movement demanded Setka’s resignation. What happened next allowed him to not only survive, but thrive.
- by Ben Schneiders
God forgives, the CFMEU doesn’t: The warning for Labor after Setka
The union speaks to Labor’s working-class voters more than any other. Now the party fears the CFMEU has a long memory.
- by Kieran Rooney and Rachel Eddie
Editorial
Chance for a CFMEU clean-out – but the devil will be in the detail
The cronies, the corrupt, the violent and all underworld figures need to be banished from the construction union and a new generation of decent people must take their place.
- The Age's View
Exclusive
More than 20 CFMEU officials stood down after organised crime allegations
Union officials and delegates have been called into meetings this week and stood down after damning revelations about the CFMEU and links to organised crime.
- by Kieran Rooney, Rachel Eddie, Sumeyya Ilanbey and Angus Thompson
Exclusive
Australians pay the price for CFMEU tactics, figures show
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has turned the dispute over the CFMEU into a political test over the cost of living, claiming the union has added 30 per cent to the cost of major projects.
- by David Crowe and Angus Thompson
Exclusive
Setka’s secret sisterhood: Labor women in covert support of CFMEU boss revealed
Leaked text messages reveal a network of Labor-linked women rallied around the fallen union leader over criminal harassment charges and his criticism of Rosie Batty’s domestic violence advocacy work.
- by Nick McKenzie, Ben Schneiders and David Marin-Guzman
Exclusive
Labor-linked judge in government sights to take over CFMEU
Three sources familiar with conversations inside the government and union movement said NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rothman was among candidates being discussed as a potential administrator.
- by Paul Sakkal, Angus Thompson and Ben Schneiders
Updated
Black hoodies, cameras and ‘slurs’ at centre of Queensland CFMEU case
A judge has imposed new restrictions on CFMEU representatives and measures to allow safe passage for other workers on the $6.3 billion Cross River Rail project in Brisbane.
- by Sean Parnell
CFMEU faces three federal courts in one day over intimidation allegations
A judge has criticised the belligerent and hostile behaviour of the union after it held up construction on a project for 6½ hours in the middle of the night.
- by David Estcourt and Sean Parnell
Exclusive
On police radar and still on an inside track to major projects thanks to CFMEU
A company championed by the union has become one of NSW’s biggest labour-hire firms supplying large publicly funded projects.
- by David Marin-Guzman, Nick McKenzie, Eryk Bagshaw and Kate McClymont
Analysis
This is not the time to flinch on union corruption
Will Labor look after households or protect its friends in the union movement? One way to tell will be whether it forces tainted officials out the door.
- by David Crowe
Updated
Union to go to war over bid to stamp out CFMEU corruption
Union officials have vowed to fight “to the ends of the earth” against federal government moves to appoint an administrator to oversee the scandal-plagued CFMEU.
- by David Crowe, Angus Thompson and Paul Sakkal
Queensland union boss lashes out at Labor governments over CFMEU probe
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had “panicked and soiled himself over some unproven allegations”, according to Queensland CFMEU boss Michael Ravbar.
- by Tony Moore
Updated
NSW premier moves to suspend CFMEU from Labor Party, stop all political donations
The NSW government will attempt to oust CFMEU state secretary Darren Greenfield through the courts or take the matter to parliament.
- by Max Maddison and Jessica McSweeney
Corruption, crooks and kickback offers: What we know about the CFMEU scandal so far
The fallout from our investigation into the powerful construction union began on Friday, when long-time union boss John Setka resigned, before the first story had even been published.
- by David Estcourt
Exclusive
The CFMEU boss, a wad of cash and a hidden camera: New pictures reveal covert police operation
A police camera hidden in the ceiling of the CFMEU’s Sydney office allegedly captured NSW construction union boss Darren Greenfield being passed a $5000 bundle of cash.
- by Nick McKenzie, David Marin-Guzman and Ben Schneiders
Exclusive
Government to appoint independent administrator for CFMEU
The advice to the government is that deregistering the CFMEU would not work because the union could continue to act against employers.
- by David Crowe, Ben Schneiders, Angus Thompson and Paul Sakkal
Opinion
I witnessed the rot set in at the CFMEU. Here’s how it happened
When John Setka and his band took control, muscle became everything – no matter where the muscle came from.
- by John Sutton
Indigenous justice commission to probe worksite allegations amid CFMEU fallout
Premier Jacinta Allan has also confirmed that the Victorian Labor Party had begun formal processes to eject the CFMEU’s construction division from its ranks.
- by Broede Carmody and Kieran Rooney
Exclusive
‘I just need it to end’: CFMEU power play turned Ben’s construction dream into a fatal nightmare
The day before his 19th birthday, the young man went to his first day in a new job. He was bullied, humiliated and locked in a shed.
- by Nick McKenzie, Reid Butler and David Marin-Guzman
Analysis
It’s a union, not a bikie gang: CFMEU needs a serious overhaul, not more of the same
The union’s national body wants policymakers and the public to think it’s taken a strong step. It hasn’t.
- by Ben Schneiders
Exclusive
Labor executive set to ban donations from Victorian CFMEU
The move is an attempt to cauterise the political damage over revelations of underworld infiltration into the scandal-plagued construction union.
- by Angus Thompson and Paul Sakkal
Exclusive
‘Leo the dog’: Setka caught on tape delivering threatening message to rival’s home
Video of the former union chief’s night-time visit emerges, plus other officials filmed in abusive tirade on $761 million government project.
- by Nick McKenzie, Ben Schneiders, David Marin-Guzman and Reid Butler
‘Everything on the table’: Burke weighs deregistration of CFMEU construction division amid revelations
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has threatened deregistration if the union doesn’t clean house.
- by James Massola and Annika Smethurst
Updated
‘Good’: Albanese welcomes Setka resignation amid calls for CFMEU probe
Amid allegations that senior bikie figures and criminals have been handed lucrative union roles on government-funded projects, the PM said the former union boss’s alleged behaviour should be condemned, isolated and stamped out.
- by Annika Smethurst, Harriet Alexander and Anthony Segaert
Updated
John Setka resigns immediately as head of CFMEU
The powerful construction union boss resigned on Friday night in the face of a raft of explosive allegations about misconduct involving him and the CFMEU.
- by Nick McKenzie, Angus Thompson and Kieran Rooney
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/national/building-bad-20240703-p5jqr4.html