Dutton demands federal Labor follows SA on CFMEU donations

The decision by SA’s Premier to return $125k to the militant union is a precedent Labor must follow nationally, Peter Dutton says.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tracey Nearmy

The decision by South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas to hand back a $125,000 from the Victorian CFMEU set a precedent which Labor must follow nationally, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Tuesday.

Mr Dutton seized on Mr Malinauskas’ decision to compel SA Labor to repay the donation as a test for Labor federally and in other states, saying Labor had already pocketed some $10 million from the construction union despite clear evidence of its lawlessness.

Mr Dutton urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to follow the lead of the Mr Malinauskas, who ordered SA Labor to reject the donation after cars were damaged in a suspicious attack at the Master Builders Association headquarters in Adelaide on Friday.

“There was bad judgment displayed by the premier in taking the donation in the first instance, but full credit to him for giving it back,” Mr Dutton said.

“The activities of the CFMEU set them apart from any other union. The good work that unions do in a general sense is tainted by the criminals and thugs within the CFMEU.”

The CFMEU has vehemently denied responsibility for the incidents last Friday where SA MBA chief executive Will Fogley had his windscreen wipers snapped and another MBA vehicle was damaged with a car key and another plastered with a CFMEU sticker.

Mr Dutton expressed a degree of cynicism about the fact that they were denying responsibility.

“Of course they are, yep,” he said. “They’ve had the worst run of bad luck I have ever heard of if it’s not them.”

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Matt Loxton

Mr Dutton said there was enough evidence of CFMEU lawlessness to reject its donations as a matter of principle.

“Don’t listen to the politicians on this, listen to the judges who have made it very clear that the CFMEU just prices the fines into its business model,” Mr Dutton said.

“There are literally thousands of allegations and charges that have been brought against the CFMEU over a long period of time. Their conduct is really endorsed when the Labor Party takes donations from them.

“The fact that the Labor Party accepts these huge donations and then at the federal level as one of its first acts when they were returned to government in May was to announce the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

“The PM doubling down and saying that it’s OK to accept these donations, and continuing to take them at a time when they’re being charged, is something that he needs to answer. The Premier (Mr Malinauskas) has shown the way for the Labor Party now and I hope that they can follow suit as soon as possible.”

Mr Malinauskas’ rejection of the donation has now sparked open warfare between his Government and the SA CFMEU, where outgoing state secretary Andy Sutherland is set to be replaced by John Setka as the Victorian division formally takes over the SA Branch.

Mr Sutherland issued a fiery statement late Monday accusing Mr Malinauskas of betrayal.

“For a Premier who has spoken so expansively about the rule of law and the need to work together in industrial relations to then fail to apply even the most basic principles of natural justice to his own decision-making is staggeringly hypocritical,” he said.

“Deciding to return the donation in government, having benefited from CFMEU members support to get elected, is the equivalent of calling for reinforcements and then shooting them in the back when the battle is won”.

It is not clear whether SA CFMEU members were asked in advance whether they knew of or supported making the $125,000 donation to the SA Labor Party.

The SA branch is effectively broke after a strong of record fines for industrial breaches, running up a deficit of more than $450,000 for the year to March 31 with total liabilities exceeding assets by more than $660,000.