Father and son target of AFP’s CFMEU raids

AFP raids targeting the CFMEU relate to alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act and the NSW criminal code, the union says.

AFP officers guard the rear doors of the CFMEU in Pyrmont. Picture: John Grainger

Australian Federal Police raids targeting the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union relate to alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act and the NSW criminal code, the union says.

A search warrant has been executed at the CFMEU headquarters in Pyrmont as well as the private homes of union officials, who have also had their mobile phones seized.

It is understood the union’s NSW secretary Darren Greenfield and his son, Michael Greenfield, the branch’s assistant secretary, are the focus of the investigation.

The search warrants have been executed with the assistance of NSW Police, who are members of the Trade Union Task Force.

Union officials said the warrants cited alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act and an alleged breach of the NSW criminal code. They said no arrests have been made.

The CFMEU is currently involved in enterprise bargaining negotiations with builders in New South Wales.

Dave Noonan, the national secretary of the union’s construction division, said the “warrant relates to investigations under the Fair Work Act and related matters”.

The CFMEU head office in the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont has been searched. Picture: John Grainger

“The AFP have been taking an increasingly active role in industrial relations matters, and have previously raided CFMEU offices in Canberra and Brisbane,” Mr Noonan said.

“Neither of those raids resulted in any charges being laid against any union official.”

He said the union was “cooperating to the extent required by law”.

“The AFP do not appear to have a similar level of urgency when investigating alleged malfeasance or corruption of Coalition Ministers as we have seen in the Angus Taylor and Michaelia Cash scandals,” Mr Noonan said.

In 2015, ACT CFMEU organiser John Lomax was charged with one count of blackmail by the police taskforce connected to the royal commission.

He was accused of making an “unwarranted demand with menace” to a Canberra painting company. The employer alleged he signed the deal as he feared he would lose work if he refused.

The blackmail charge against Mr Lomax was later dropped.

“A trade union task force investigation has resulted in the execution of search warrants in Sydney today,” an AFP spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

“As this remains an ongoing investigation, no further information can be provided at this time.”

Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus questioned why the offices of banks and politicians were not raided as frequently.

*there

— Sally McManus (@sallymcmanus) November 17, 2020

“When will we see the day there are raids on the offices of: banks for laundering and child exploitation … politicians offices for funding rorts and fundraisers with developers,” Ms McManus wrote in a tweet.

“The list could go on,” she said.

The Trade Union Task Force was established in 2014 after the Royal Commission into Trade Union Government and Corruption

In October 2014, the Australian government announced the establishment of a joint police task force to investigate conduct uncovered by the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption.

The Royal Commission referred more than 30 criminal matters to the task force which related to state-based offences including bribery, extortion and blackmail.