Palaszczuk may return CFMEU donations as union under investigation

Labor is under growing pressure to sever financial ties with the CFMEU as new evidence of donations emerges in Queensland.

CFMEU protesters storm the Transport and Main Roads building Brisbane on Tuesday, August 23.

Labor is under growing pressure to sever financial ties with the CFMEU as new evidence of donations emerges in Queensland, where the construction union is under police investigation for storming a government building.

Three weeks after South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas demanded SA Labor return a $125,000 donation from the John Setka-led Victorian branch, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is considering doing the same after the union’s Queensland division laid siege to the Transport Department office in Brisbane last Tuesday.

Anthony Albanese has been silent on the donations question, with the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union having handed more than $10m to the ALP since building watchdog the Australian Building and Construction Commission was last abolished in 2012.

The Australian can today reveal that the Queensland CFMEU made at least $90,000 in donations to Labor’s Queensland branch at this year’s federal election to support election of the Albanese government.

CFMEU secretary John Setka. Picture: AAP Image/Daniel Pockett

While the Australian Electoral Commission will not release its ­official 2021-22 donation data until February, Queensland’s live electronic disclosure system is already listing three CFMEU donations related to Labor’s 2022 federal campaign.

The union donated $65,000 to the Capricornia campaign on April 6, and $15,000 to the Flynn campaign and $10,000 to the Wide Bay campaign on April 19, in an unsuccessful bid to unseat sitting CLP members in each regional electorate.

It is expected that larger donations will be revealed throughout this year and in next year’s formal AEC disclosure as the union has historically donated greater sums to Labor in more marginal seats.

The revelation comes as Ms Palaszczuk considers returning all CFMEU donations to the Queensland branch in light of the scenes in Brisbane last week where CFMEU members knocked down a security guard and abused public servants after forcibly entering the Transport and Main Roads building on Mary Street.

The mayhem forced cancellation of an industry forum on safety grounds and Queensland police are investigating the union’s role.

Ms Palaszczuk is awaiting the outcome of the police investi­gation before making a decision but she described the union’s conduct as “disgraceful” and said she would no longer deal with it.

“I won’t be meeting with them,” she said. “They should apologise to the workers that felt unsafe and threatened.”

In SA, Mr Malinauskas is also having no dealings with the union after he instructed SA Labor to return the $125k donation made by the CFMEU’s Victorian division four days before his March 19 election victory. The trigger for his decision was a suspicious spate of vandalism at the SA headquarters of the Master Builders Association where one vehicle was keyed, another had its windscreen wipers snapped and a CFMEU sticker was affixed to an MBA vehicle.

The SA branch of the CFMEU is now formally under Victorian control and Mr Malinauskas has said he would not tolerate any militancy on SA building sites.

The SA branch fell foul of Mr Setka, who labelled its former leadership as “weak c..ts” and “f..king bludgers”. Under his control, the SA division has become more militant with “No Ticket No Start” signs appearing on CBD building sites and construction firms that use non-union labour fearful of being targeted.

Peter Dutton said there was “more than enough” evidence of CFMEU misconduct and it was time for the Prime Minister to act.

“I give credit where it is due: Premier Malinauskas has rightly realised that taking money off the CFMEU is wrong,” the federal Opposition Leader told The Australian. “We saw the absolutely shocking scenes in Brisbane this week where CFMEU protesters stormed a CBD office block, intimidating office workers.

“It was good to see the Queensland Premier condemn the violence, but where was the Prime Minister? He needs to pull the CFMEU into line and stop taking their donations.”

Despite the union’s rising militancy, Mr Albanese is resisting calls to put an end to political donations, with a government spokesman saying the issue needed to be addressed at the state level by Labor branches.

“Donations to state branches of the party are a matter for those state branches,” he said. “The Prime Minister has said many times – we have zero tolerance for unlawful behaviour in any industry from employers, employees or employees’ unions and such behaviour should be prosecuted by the police.”

Mr Albanese has stood up to Mr Setka before, demanding his expulsion from the ALP over his 2019 comments about domestic ­violence campaigner Rosie Batty, which Mr Setka denies, but the precedent set by Mr Malinauskas and the militant actions in Queensland last week are making it harder to manage Labor’s relationship with the union as the federal government moves to wrap up the ABCC.