Administrator Mark Irving suspends CFMEU officials and probes kickbacks

CFMEU administrator Mark Irving has suspended eight union organisers and launched investigations into purported kickbacks to officials as well as the alleged use of union funds to pay legal bills.

CFMEU administrator Mark Irving KC. Picture: Alex Coppel

CFMEU administrator Mark Irving has suspended eight union organisers and launched investigations into purported kickbacks to officials as well as the alleged use of union members’ funds to pay the legal bills of sacked NSW secretary Darren Greenfield to contest bribery charges.

In the first acts to purge personnel who have been accused of engaging in violence and corruption, Mr Irving KC said he had suspended six organisers and a staff member from the Queensland branch and two organisers in Victoria. A further three organisers, including prominent union figure Mick Myles, resigned on Friday.

Mr Irving is investigating whether the union paid the legal bills of Mr Greenfield after he was charged in 2021 with taking bribes. Mr Greenfield has denied any wrongdoing.

In an interview with The Weekend Australian, Mr Irving, who has been in the job for just two weeks, said he received prima facie evidence of kickbacks to union officials in Victoria and had seen “material to suggest that corrupt payments have been made and received”.

He said the Queensland organisers allegedly engaged in menacing conduct including acts and threats of violence.

“Menacing behaviour is one of my significant concerns,” he said.

“Acts and threats of violence are one of my significant concerns, and in relation to that sort of conduct, there is justification for acting a lot more promptly than it is in relation to corrupt conduct which might require further, slower steps.”

While 15 Victorian union delegates who were members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, or closely affiliated with them, were sacked before his appointment, Mr Irving said the “problem of having patched motorcycle gang members is not limited to Victoria” and he was determined to remove them as delegates when they were identified.

“My concern is that in some places ... states, there are people who are performing the role of delegates who are there to menace, and people who are performing the role of delegates who are there to serve themselves rather than to serve the members, and people performing those role as delegates who have allegiances with outside groups which are inconsistent with being completely committed to the members and their interests,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for anyone who is a patched member of an outlaw motorcycle gang to play any role in industrial relations, whether it’s as a representative of workers or employers.”

Mr Irving said he would be investigating union figures with connections to organised crime and outlaw motorcycle gangs as a high priority, while he would seek in the longer term to lawfully exclude industrial mediators with underworld links.

He said an anonymous whistleblower website would be set up to encourage union members, union employees and industry participants to report infor-mation about corruption mena-cing behaviour, and other conduct including sexual harassment

He said his approach had three core elements – dealing with corruption, menacing behaviour and ensuring the union was a going concern that continued to fight to keep members safe at work, improve employment conditions, negotiate and enforce enterprise agreements.

Mr Irving met with the Fair Work Commission to discuss delays in the approval of new enterprise agreements, including pay deals in Victoria that were secured by the union and promised 21 per cent pay rises. The delay in processing the agreements has caused angst among members and been highlighted by critics of the administration to fuel rank-and-file concern about the takeover of the construction division.

Mr Irving said he believed his discussions with the commission would address the blockage and allow the agreements to be processed and pay rises to flow to workers. In seeking to root out corruption within the union, he said it was important to address corruption within the construction industry.

“Where there has been a bribe received by a union official, there has been an employer who has made the bribe,” he said.

“I don’t see it as a situation where the union is the root of all evil here. They are operating in an ecosystem that needs to be significantly changed to root out the structures that have allowed corruption to flourish within the industry. That involves calling employers to account ...”

Mr Irving, a barrister since 1997, will be paid about $643,000 a year for his work as administrator, with the bill to be picked up by the union, not taxpayers.

Victoria Police announced on Friday they would take no further action in relation to a large number of recent media allegations against the CFMEU after an initial assessment of potential criminal activity. Of 20 allegations, eight were deemed to be within the remit of Victoria Police, with no further action to be taken in relation to five of the reported allegations, leaving three matters

Police said a long-running fraud probe, believed to be related to the union’s former Victorian deputy Derek Christopher, was a “complex investigation that is still being assessed by external lawyers and will take some time to complete” and “charges are currently being considered”.

Victorian CFMEU organiser Joel Shackleton was arrested and charged on Thursday with allegedly making threats to kill and inflict serious injury. A third matter involved an ongoing assessment into the intimidation of a developer but no criminal offence has been identified to date.

No action will be taken against former CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka for leaving a suitcase with the words “Leo the Dog” written on it, in the driveway of the union’s manufacturing division official Leo Skourdoumbis as the latter was unwilling to make a statement.

A further 12 allegations will be referred to agencies including the FWC, Fair Work Ombudsman, Australian Federal Police or Australian Taxation Office.

Victoria Police also said no action would be taken against Mr Setka for attending two construction sites this week.

“For there to be a trespass offence, a person must be asked to leave by someone in charge of the site or who has authority at the site,” police said. “The person then has to refuse ... There is no evidence that this occurred ... therefore there has been no trespass offence committed.”