CFMEU to Labor: change tack on trade or cash stops

The CFMEU will not donate to Labor if it continues to support free-trade policies.

National construction division secretary Dave Noonan at the Grand Hotel in Adelaide following the CFMEU conference. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

The CFMEU will not donate ­another cent to the Labor Party if it continues to support free-trade policies that the union says hurt Australian jobs.

National construction division boss Dave Noonan also says the party has been overrun by “brok­en­-down Tony Blair spin doctors” who have orchestrated a conflict with his union for political gain.

In a defiant interview with The Weekend Australian at the end of the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union’s five-day national conference in Adelaide, Mr Noonan declared his division’s besieged Victorian chief, John Setka, an “asset” to the CFMEU who had been treated “unfairly” by ­Anthony Albanese.

Mr Noonan also backed Mr Setka’s assessment that Labor was “losing its soul” by signing up to trade deals that allow foreign workers into Australia. He said there were about 1.4 million workers in the country on temporary visas who were being underpaid and driving down wages and ­conditions for Australians.

He warned that as long as Labor backed the government’s free-trade deals, it should not ­expect any more donations from the union, which has handed more than $13m to the ALP since 2000, almost $1m of it from Mr Setka’s Victorian branch.

“We will not be donating to any political party that does not put the interests of Australian workers first,” he said. “When we think Labor has got it wrong we will call it out. We are certainly not donating any money out of this conference. We are not going to be going out funding politicians who undermine job security.

“We don’t understand why the Labor Party is going down this path. We were trying to point out to them the level of wage theft that’s going on with workers on temporary work visas.

“It’s been comprehensively demonstrated that those workers get ripped off. That has an effect on the market. It has the effect of depressing wages and reducing job security for everyone.”

Mr Noonan said Labor was confused about what it stood for as it tried to retain its appeal to blue-collar workers while seeking support­ from inner-city profess­ional voters. “It’s not just about Albo,” he said. “The party needs to have a good look at itself. You will never out-green the Greens. They should look to working people — not just blue-collar workers, but in other industries such as IT who are getting underpaid.”

His comments cap the end of a CFMEU conference that exploded into life courtesy of Mr Setka and his searing attack on the federa­l Opposition Leader on Wednesday. He ­announced then that he would not be ­appealing against his expulsion from the ALP, forced by comments he was alleged to have made, but denies making, about domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty.

While all the CFMEU sessions were held behind closed doors this week, The Weekend Australian has been told Mr Setka was hailed as a hero by delegates for standing up to the Labor leader.

Mr Noonan confirmed there was strong support for Mr Setka across the CFMEU, blaming the leaking against him on “one ­person out of 55 who didn’t have the credibility to raise any ­concerns”, and said that as national secretary he strongly backed his Victorian chief.

He accused Mr Albanese of trying to mimic the tactics of former Labor leader Kevin Rudd, who ahead of the 2007 election ­secured the expulsion of West Aus­t­ralian CFMEU official Joe McDonald from the ALP after his foul-mouthed tirade against an Australian Building and Construction Commission inspector.

“It’s the exact same pattern we saw at that time from Labor with their broken-down Tony Blair spin doctors putting a bit of distance between Labor and blue-collar unions,” Mr Noonan said.

“With John, what people see is what’s in the paper. They don’t know him, they don’t know the work he does for members, they don’t know what drives him. John’s a construction person. Whatever I think about him is ­irrelevant. What matters is what his members think about him.”

Mr Noonan also issued a warning­ to other union leaders — and specifically ACTU chief Sally McManus — to butt out of the ­debate over Mr Setka’s future. “I see Sally has called on him to resign­ again,’’ Mr Noonan said.

“Well, I said it to her last time and I would say it again today — the ACTU doesn’t pick our leaders­, I don’t pick our leaders. Our members pick our leaders.’’

He also returned fire at Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, who said in parliament this week that the CFMEU was a “modern-day mafia” with links to bikies and organised crime figures. “Why doesn’t he name one? Outside parliament?” Mr Noonan said.

The CFMEU conference was dominated by discussion of trade deals, safety concerns and underpayment of workers, as well as the Ensuring Integrity Bill, which Mr Noonan urged the Senate to ­oppose. He said ­the bill was so draconi­an it was impossible to amend it to make it fair.