A house, a hot rod and a bashing: CFMEU sackings heap pressure on Albanese

Federal police are investigating allegations building companies paid massive bribes, including financing a $2.5 million property development and a $150,000 luxury vehicle, to a union boss recently promoted to help lead the Albanese government-backed clean-up of the scandal-tainted CFMEU.

Veteran union official John “Perky” Perkovic was dramatically sacked on Thursday after this masthead and 60 Minutes uncovered damning evidence of his alleged corruption and alerted the Labor-appointed CFMEU administration which, just three months ago, had elevated Perkovic to second-in-charge of the union’s all-powerful Victorian branch.

The rolling CFMEU scandal has also infected NSW, with a second official there abruptly sacked days ago after this masthead confronted the union’s administration with evidence he had engaged in a violent act in the company of a former Hells Angels bikie gang boss in late 2024.

In a statement, the Australian Federal Police revealed it had launched an investigation into the Perkovic allegations as part of an operation probing alleged “corruption and criminal conduct related to the CFMEU”.

The two sackings have left the barrister hand-picked by federal Labor as administrator of the CFMEU, Mark Irving, KC, facing his biggest crisis since his appointment 15 months ago, when the first instalment of the Building Bad series forced the Albanese government to pledge to reform the powerful union.

Since then, Irving’s administration has been marred by legal challenges, missteps, and resignations, but the latest scandal is particularly damaging because it is at least partly self-inflicted – in the case of both recently sacked officials, there was readily available information they had previously engaged in highly questionable conduct.

Perkovic’s sacking sparked calls from the federal opposition and crossbench for greater government action to clean up the troubled union.

Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tim Wilson said the public’s faith in the administration had collapsed. Industrial Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said she still had complete confidence in the administration.

Six serving and former union insiders told this masthead on Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, that a small number of other organisers still employed by the administration were strongly suspected of improperly lobbying on behalf of select labour hire companies, including those run by their relatives and close friends, in return for benefits.

The evidence uncovered by this masthead suggests Perkovic secretly accepted benefits from or engaged in non-disclosed commercial dealings with the construction companies he was meant to oversee as a union boss protecting workers, including major construction cleaning firm the Cleanex Group.

Perkovic was promoted in July by another CFMEU boss, Zach Smith, who is running the Victorian branch for Irving. Perkovic was given a key leadership position as CFMEU construction co-ordinator, effectively making him Smith’s deputy.

CFMEU Victorian boss Zach Smith, ex-CFMEU Victorian state secretary John Setka, and CFMEU delegate John Perkovic at a recent funeral.

Smith’s “captain call” elevation of Perkovic was endorsed by Irving, although it is unclear if this was before or after Perkovic’s promotion.

Irving’s spokesperson said the appointment as co-ordinator was on an interim basis and that the administration would act “decisively” when there was clear evidence of wrongdoing.

The suspect Perkovic dealings include a plot of land now worth an estimated $1 million and which was purchased by the owner of Cleanex and on sold to Perkovic’s daughter in highly suspicious circumstances, as well as the building of a $1.7 million two-storey home by the boss of a second building firm, a former corrupt cop with alleged gangland connections.

Perkovic is also suspected of using his union power to push Cleanex and other favoured firms onto major building sites, including Victorian government Big Build projects, helping them to earn many millions of dollars.

Irving said in a statement circulated to union officials that Perkovic had been dismissed “for accepting a series of bribes and other secret benefits from employers in the construction industry”.

The now-former NSW CFMEU official embroiled in the latest scandal, Ash Howe, was a union delegate for the Irving administration in Victoria, prior to his promotion to Sydney CFMEU organiser in Sydney in August.

Former CFMEU delegate Ash Howe is accused of bashing a union official.

According to three sources close to Howe, last October he requested the former boss of the Hells Angels, and self-styled union-fixer, Peter “Skitzo” Hewat, accompany him to a meeting at a Melbourne cafe.

At the meeting, Howe then assaulted a union official who Howe believed had undermined him.

The attack was an open secret in the CFMEU’s Melbourne headquarters – it was first relayed to this masthead last November by three serving and former delegates.

Peter Hewat

But this knowledge never reached the CFMEU administration’s NSW office, who appointed Howe to serve as a CFMEU organiser in Sydney.

Howe, who did not respond to efforts to contact him, was sacked after this masthead sent questions to the administration earlier this month, outlining the allegations against him.

In a statement, Irving’s spokesperson said he was satisfied that Smith did not have “critical information” about Howe when he went to NSW. He also backed the decision of the NSW branch to sack Howe.

A fortnight ago, this masthead told the administration there was also serious evidence of suspected wrongdoing involving Perkovic.

In response the union administration launched an investigation and, on Thursday, removed Perkovic. He again declined to comment on Friday.

But the question of why Perkovic was promoted to a key administration role in the first place now looms over Irving’s administration.

“There’s been a cloud over him for quite some time, so it really was remarkable. I think the whole industry was shocked when he was promoted to second in charge,” former national secretary of the CFMEU John Sutton told this masthead and 60 Minutes.

“It is, I think, almost inconceivable, how he could have been promoted.”

The promotion occurred despite Perkovic’s well-known role as an avowed supporter of John Setka, the former CFMEU boss whose toxic leadership transformed the union into an enabler of corruption and organised crime.

It was also made despite persistent suspicions of multiple union officials and industry insiders that Perkovic had for years abused his union power to help certain construction company bosses win work.

Two experienced CFMEU insiders said it was an open secret that “Perky had his favourites” – large construction firms that he would aggressively promote to major contractors to engage on big projects.

He was also singled out at the royal commission into trade unions a decade ago over an abusive tirade on a construction site, and was sanctioned by the Fair Work Commission.

Sutton said despite some successes in NSW and Queensland, federal Labor’s administration was at risk of becoming a laughing stock in Victoria where “there’s nothing changing and the crooks are everywhere”.

“That’s just not a situation that we can tolerate and the government shouldn’t tolerate it,” Sutton said.

---

Perkovic leads the union’s so-called Croatian faction, formerly headed by Setka, which commands the entrenched loyalty of about a fifth of Victoria’s 600 union delegates.

Many acquired their roles in a vast act of nepotism, ignoring laws requiring their formal election by workers, and instead relied on the acquiescence of major companies seeking union backing that were willing to install these delegates on their projects on salaries of up to $300,000.

Perkovic was a union delegate before becoming a highly influential senior organiser under Setka.

Perkovic’s most recent promotion to the role of Smith’s deputy has been widely seen as an attempt by Smith to stabilise his nascent leadership of the Victorian branch amid relentless internal attacks that he is a lackey of the union’s ultimate master: administrator Irving.

The promotion also made Perkovic extremely powerful inside the union and across Victoria’s construction sector.

A recently filmed video of Perkovic obtained by this masthead is illustrative.

Perkovic, 55, a loud, gregarious and charming figure, is seen leading a union-style chant at a small wake for a veteran Croatian CFMEU delegate; Smith and Setka stand behind him, fists clenched in the air.

Also present are several veteran Croatian delegates, as well as Croatian community leader Tony Juric, an ex-cop who, after his release from prison in 2010 for corruption, became a manager and director of a string of large construction firms.

According to police intelligence files released by a royal commission, Juric is “close” to gangland figure Mick Gatto.

Corporate records also reveal that in 2023, Juric launched a new construction company, LVL, with another gangland-affiliated industry identity and businessman, Nic Maric.

Former policeman, construction company director and Croatian community figure Tony Juric.

That company, like others Juric previously directed, was promoted by Perkovic, with union sources confirming he had allegedly used his power as a CFMEU official to pressure large contractors to use Juric’s firms.

The sources said Perkovic was also party to internal union dealings that led to the granting of a union-endorsed agreement between the CFMEU and Juric and Maric’s firm, LVL.

But in a major conflict of interest, and in dealings suggestive of potential corruption, Juric was used by Perkovic to build a new $1.7 million two-storey Keilor house.

The Keilor house at the centre of bribery allegations.Credit: The Age

The house was built on land acquired in the name of Perkovic’s wife in 2017 and developed by John Perkovic between September 2020 and September 2023.

Asked why he had built Perkovic’s home, Juric refused to answer before hanging up the phone.

Perkovic’s role in another Keilor land deal involving an adjoining block of land also is indicative of suspected wrongdoing and alleged graft.

Property records reveal the block was purchased in 2020 for $500,000 by a company in turn owned by the director of construction industry cleaning business, Cleanex Group, after which time satellite images show it was effectively in Perkovic’s possession.

Cleanex was repeatedly pushed by Perkovic using his union power, three union sources said.

In March 2024, paperwork shows that a firm owned by Cleanex director George Nestorovski, GSN Projects, transferred the $500,000 block to Perkovic’s daughter for $550,000.

Records also suggest the land was acquired with no mortgage or deposit and was bought outright, although Perkovic did not respond to efforts to contact him.

When this masthead called his daughter and asked her about the land, she said, “oh my God”, before hanging up the phone.

When quizzed about why he bought the land acquired by Perkovic, Nestorovski told this masthead, “It’s none of your business why I bought it”, but denied it was a bribe before hanging up the phone.

Former CFMEU national secretary John Sutton described a union boss like Perkovic engaging in the property dealing with construction bosses as highly inappropriate.

“It’s a fundamental conflict of interest. You can’t have the building company you’re meant to be policing [but with which] … you’ve actually got a secret cosy deal,” he said.

“That stinks to the high heavens. It just can’t be allowed to happen.

“None of this stuff would come ever without any strings attached. It’s all about, ‘I’ll scratch your back. Here you go. You scratch mine, you look after me.’

“It’s not trade unionism, that’s outrageous.”

Perkovic has enjoyed other suspicious perks provided by construction company bosses, this investigation has confirmed. Cleanex provided him with use of a 2025 Land Rover worth an estimated $150,000.

A Range Rover at John Perkovic’s house.

A 1970 GT Ford worth at least $100,000, which Perkovic has used for at least two years, is registered in the name of the boss of a plastering company known by union insiders to have been repeatedly pushed by Perkovic onto major jobs.

A car used by former CFMEU official John Perkovic featuring his initials.Credit: The Age

Another construction company on Victoria’s Big Build projects, which union officials told this masthead was repeatedly promoted by Perkovic, paid for a range of living expenses for Perkovic, including his home and contents insurance and the insurance of at least two luxury Rolex watches.

In a statement released on Friday, Irving repeated his call for assistance from the industry, regulators and governments to help the administration clean up the sector.

He insisted that methodical progress was being made but warned change would take “considerable time”.

“The changes implemented to date have been substantial, and more changes are being implemented. Much important work remains to be done. The success of the work done will be properly judged over time,” Irving said.

For more, watch 60 Minutes on Nine on Sunday night.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.