‘Imminent death threat’: CFMEU administrator targeted as union schism deepens

Police have warned the CFMEU administrator of an imminent death threat, as the labour movement ruptures over the federal government’s efforts to stamp out criminality in the building industry.

Administrator Mark Irving, KC, has been warned by police that they have uncovered credible intelligence of a threat designed to undermine his efforts to clean up the union and industry.

CFMEU administrator Mark Irving, KC, in his chambers.Credit: Joe Armao

The development came as disgruntled construction unions on Wednesday laid out their blueprint for a split from Labor, moving to hold a summit to review millions of dollars in political funding and consider setting up a rival to the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

The Albanese government appointed Irving as administrator over the CFMEU after the Building Bad series by this masthead, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes.

Four sources with knowledge of the threat, but who were not authorised to comment publicly, told this masthead that Irving had alerted administration staff.

A spokesperson for Irving said on Wednesday: “The work of the administration continues, and will not be distracted or diverted.”

Union members protested against the federal government’s laws in August. Credit: The Australian Financial Review

ACTU secretary Sally McManus this week said she had taken steps to protect her safety over her tough public stance on revelations of intimidation and criminal infiltration at the CFMEU.

The Building Bad investigation and ensuing police and regulatory response has caused significant waves in underworld circles down Australia’s east coast, with figures in Melbourne’s gangland scene, including bikies, concerned about losing income.

Wednesday’s meeting of the National Building Industry Group of Unions – an alliance of labour leaders in Australia’s construction industry – condemned the federal government over the forced administration of the CFMEU.

The group resolved to hold a “Trade unions for democracy summit” on December 9 to consider proposals on the future of political funding and a campaign to “restore union democracy”.

“The CFMEU has been denied basic natural justice,” the organisation said in a statement on Wednesday. “Trial by parliament and media is not how we do things in Australia.

“The administration sets a worrying precedent for all unions. If a government can legislate outcomes for one union, then all unions are at risk.”

A review of political funding from multiple industry unions could see millions of dollars removed from ALP campaigns. In September, this masthead revealed the Electrical Trades Union was planning to donate to the Greens in protest over Labor’s handling of the CFMEU.

The December summit will also consider the creation of an alternative union body to advocate for workers rights – a potential rival to the ACTU. The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) has already split with the ACTU in protest at its lack of support for the CFMEU’s former leadership.

An ACTU spokesperson on Wednesday said: “The Australian union movement is focused on preventing [Opposition Leader] Peter Dutton from taking away the life-changing payrises and new rights that working people have won.”

CEPU national secretary Michael Wright told The Australian on Wednesday there was now “a deep rupture across the labour movement and the consequences are likely to be far-reaching”.

In the Wednesday statement, the National Building Industry Group of Unions shared its “outrage and condemnation for the forced administration of the construction and general division of the CFMEU by the Albanese government”.

The group claimed that other unions who supported the CFMEU had been attacked by conservative opposition parties in Australian states and that the federal legislation would be used as a “how to guide” to destroy the union movement.

“The forced administration, driven by Albanese, Murray Watt and Tony Burke, and supported by the ACTU, has opened the door for a sustained attack on construction workers, such as the proposal by the MBA [Master Builders Association] and others to drive down wages in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis,” it said.

At a separate gathering in Melbourne on Monday, construction industry leaders met federal Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt.

The National Construction Industry Forum agreed to develop a building and construction industry blueprint to help reform the sector.

“Working together to address the persistent challenges facing this industry is key to ensuring it is an industry that works for everyone,” Watt said after the meeting. “The blueprint will focus on creating lasting and tangible change within the industry. To meet these objectives, we need cooperation, not conflict.”

Housing Industry Association managing director Jocelyn Martin said the blueprint could shine a light on the current business environment, which had allowed the CFMEU to conduct its activities.

“An efficient and productive housing industry is absolutely critical to responding to the current cost-of-living crisis,” Martin said.

“This requires movement of all the levers that affect the delivery of housing, including addressing undesirable behaviour on construction sites, to ensure the industry is an attractive and safe place to work.

“As we speak, builders are waiting to deliver hundreds of homes over 51 developments in NSW, held up for months by industrial action with Endeavour Energy, Essential Energy and the ETU. Why should the builder and the consumer be forced to wear this cost?”

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