Corrupt former NSW CFMEU leaders jailed for bribery
Father and son Darren and Michael Greenfield ‘foster(ed) a culture antithetical to the rule of law’, said the judge who sent them both to prison.
Former NSW CFMEU leaders Darren and Michael Greenfield have been sentenced to jail for 30 months and 18 months respectively for accepting bribes in their roles as senior union officials.
Judge Leonie Flannery on Friday said the $30,000 in collective bribe payments accepted by the father and son indicated they had “foster(ed) a culture that was antithetical to the rule of law” at the CFMEU and “undermined the integrity of the union”.
“I am satisfied no penalty other than imprisonment is appropriate,” she said.
Darren Greenfield will likely face just 10 months’ imprisonment and Michael six months, subject to good behaviour.
The pair sat beside each other through the hearing. Michael Greenfield looked ahead while Darren bowed his head. As they were taken into custody, the pair hugged supporters in court.
The Greenfields in April pleaded guilty to corruption charges and accepting bribes after reaching a deal with prosecutors, having previously maintained their innocence.
Darren Greenfield, the union’s former NSW secretary, pleaded guilty to two charges of receiving corrupting benefits and two charges of receiving cash or payment in kind from an employer.
Son Michael Greenfield, the former assistant state secretary, pleaded guilty to one corrupting benefit charge and one charge of receiving cash or payment in kind. He also pleaded guilty to wilfully making a false declaration in relation to a traffic offence.
The older Greenfield admitted to accepting four cash payments totalling $20,000, while his son had accepted two payments totalling $10,000, from a gyprocking company looking for preferential treatment from the union.
Neither remains affiliated with the scandal-plagued construction union. Darren Greenfield was sacked in the early days of the CFMEU administration, and Michael resigned two weeks later on August 12 last year.
Reacting to the jailing, ACTU secretary Sally McManus told The Australian: “You can’t call yourself a unionist if you’re on the take. Those who use their position for personal gain aren’t unionists – they’re impostors.
“The ACTU supports the brave and principled unionists who are stepping up to do the hard work to return to building workers the clean and strong union they deserve.”
CFMEU NSW executive director Michael Crosby said Darren and Michael Greenfield had betrayed the union’s members, committing an egregious breach of trust that shattered the important compact between union members and their leaders.
“They took money from an employer on the obvious understanding that the employer would receive favourable treatment from the union,” Mr Crosby said.
“Favourable treatment is a euphemism. It actually means that that employer could rely on a special relationship with the Greenfields.
“It’s likely that that employer would get work at the expense of other employers. Organisers wouldn’t check the entitlements of the workers employed by that employer. The suspicion is that safety regulations could be skirted with impunity.”
Mr Crosby said he expected CFMEU administrator Mark Irving would expel the Greenfields as members of the union,
“Under the Greenfields, members clearly couldn’t know who’s side their leadership was on. Did employers call the tune or were members their leadership’s first priority?” he said. “It’s lucky for them that I’m not the judge … the key thing is, tonight they’re locked up in jail and that must be very confronting.”
Darren Greenfield led state opposition to Labor’s union-wide corruption investigation, railing against the party and the ACTU leadership, progressively stepping away as his criminal case progressed.
The Greenfields were arrested and charged in September 2021, with the CFMEU agreeing the same day to use $3.15m in members’ funds to pay their legal fees. Funds were transferred on July 19 last year, just two days after the Albanese government announced it would force the union into administration.
The Australian later revealed the union paid an additional $559,000 in legal representation fees for the pair between May 2022 and July last year.
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