Belan union dynasty at an end as family faces questions

The boss of a union dynasty in NSW has ­quit just days before he is due to give evidence to the royal commission.

Former NSW state secretary of the National Union of Workers Derrick Belan.

The long-serving boss of a powerful union dynasty in NSW has ­abruptly quit just days before he was called to give potentially damaging evidence to the royal commission into union corruption about allegations related to the misuse of union money and credit cards.

Derrick Belan, state secretary of the right-wing National Union of Workers since 2001, has quietly resigned and handed the reins to his deputy, Wayne Meaney.

Mr Belan’s brother, Nick, has also suddenly left his job as a senior NUW official and will face questioning about the union’s ­financial dealings when he ­appears at the royal commission next week. Another key witness will be Derrick Belan’s niece, Danielle O’Brien, who has suddenly quit as the union’s bookkeeper.

It is understood lawyers for the royal commission want to question all three about alleged serious irregularities in NUW accounts and misuse of union credit cards.

One senior union source told The Weekend Australian that Ms O’Brien’s role was central to the investigations. Also of interest is Mr Belan’s links to a gym at St Marys in Sydney’s west, called ­Ultimate Training Centre, and his links to a Sydney labour hire company co-owned by his former partner.

The royal commission’s questioning of 18 NUW-related witnesses next week will include former NSW Labor MP Paul Gibson, who had strong political and financial backing for many years from Derrick Belan’s late father, Frank Belan. Frank Belan, notorious because of the power he once wielded during strikes by cutting off NSW petrol supplies, ruled the NUW with an iron hand for many years when it was known as the Storemen and Packers Union.

He created a union family dynasty by placing his sons in key ­positions. Derrick Belan inherited control when his father died in 2001, and continued to run the NSW branch as a union fiefdom, mostly out of public view.

He also wielded significant ­influence inside the NSW ALP ­because of an important block of right-wing votes his union controls.

The sudden departure of the Belan family ends the dynasty their father started.

Of wider significance is how it could affect the ALP’s beleaguered general-secretary at NSW party head office, Jamie Clements.

The position of Mr Clements as NSW party chief has been under a cloud since August when he was issued with an apprehended violence order following a complaint to police from a female Labor staffer who claimed Mr Clements had tried to kiss her in NSW Parliament House.

NSW police decided not to charge Mr Clements with any ­offence after investigating an ­assault allegation by staffer and former ALP candidate Stefanie Jones. Mr Clements has nonetheless come under party pressure to resign, and he has relied on the backing of several right-wing union bosses — notably Derrick Belan — to cling to his job.

With Mr Belan out of the way, Mr Clements’s position could again be in doubt.

Mr Clements is no longer on speaking terms with David Latham, the partner of the woman Mr Clements allegedly tried to kiss, and a co-worker official in ALP head office. Sources say office ­operations are dysfunctional ahead of next year’s federal election campaign, with Mr Latham often working in a nearby cafe if Mr Clements is in the office.

Derrick Belan is known for his trademark of wearing black and being surrounded by a black-­suited entourage of burly union minders.

A senior NUW source told The Weekend Australian that Mr Belan and his relatives left quietly last week, with word of their departure only starting to spread in recent days.

“It was his decision — there is stuff that is going to come out next week,” the source said.