Political donations the sticking point in CFMEU law stalemate

A law that would force the disgraced CFMEU into administration failed to pass on Thursday after the Coalition and Greens blocked the bill in the Senate because it does not include a ban on political donations.

Negotiations between the major political parties crumbled on Thursday as the Coalition teamed up with the Greens to scupper legislation that would appoint an administrator to the Construction and General division of the CFMEU after a series of revelations about the union’s ties to organised crime.

Coalition workplace spokeswoman Michaelia Cash and Workplace Minister Murray Watt traded barbs in the Senate on Thursday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Workplace Minister Murray Watt accused Coalition workplace spokeswoman Michaelia Cash of deliberately turning her back on the construction sector in leading the Coalition to vote against the legislation.

“We worked on sensible amendments with Senator Cash, but she just kept moving the goalposts,” Watt said in a statement. “This is the strongest legislative action ever taken against a union or employer in our nation’s history.”

The government will try to force the bill through next week to avoid a scenario where the Fair Work Commission takes months to put in place an administrator due to the process being taken to the Federal Court.

The move to push legislation through comes after the Building Bad investigation by this masthead, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes. It revealed the CFMEU had been infiltrated by bikies and organised crime and triggered the resignations of former Victoria division leader John Setka and later NSW assistant secretary Michael Greenfield.

Under the law tabled in parliament on Monday, the administrator would be appointed for a maximum of three years over the Construction and General Division of the union and would include obligations on officers, employees and professional advisors to co-operate.

Cash demanded amendments on Wednesday, including for the administration to be a minimum of three years, progress reports to be made every three months and for the administrator to appear before a committee. Cash also called for any CFMEU division to be banned from making political donations or campaigning.

The demands came after the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority ordered on Wednesday that industry superannuation funds Cbus and BUSSQ review whether their CFMEU-appointed directors were fit to hold positions, which Watt dismissed as an issue on Thursday morning.

“The individuals who are on the boards of those super funds aren’t necessarily the same people who are under investigation for criminal offences and who’ve been aired in the media … it’s probably best for me to leave APRA to do its work independently of commentary from me,” Watt told ABC Radio National.

Meanwhile, the Greens had earlier expressed concern about the bill overriding the court process.

The amended bill on Thursday included conditions for the administrator to report to parliament every six months, extended the duration of the scheme of administration from three to five years and that anyone removed from the union could not then be a bargaining representative for another organisation.

Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong moved late on Thursday afternoon for the bill to be put to a vote, which caused an eruption of shouting in the Senate and the motion was defeated.

“What we saw just now president [Sue Lines], was the unholy alliance between those who are only interested in protecting Mr Setka and the corrupt elements inside the CFMEU and those who are interested in protecting those elements just so they can continue to play politics,” Wong said.

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