Labor leaves out $1.9m worth of awkward details in attack on Greens’ CFMEU support | Samantha Maiden

There’s something almost amusing about Labor’s sudden concerns about the Greens and the union movement’s black sheep, writes Samantha Maiden.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt branded the Greens’ support of the CFMEU “very disturbing” this week, which was funny, in a dark sort of way, when you consider the millions of dollars the Labor Party has cheerfully gobbled up in political donations from the same union.

Sure, the ALP national executive recently ruled to block donations and suspended the construction division’s affiliation with the NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmanian branches.

But does anyone need reminding that was decided last month? Until then, the rivers of gold kept flowing from the cashed-up, big black sheep of the union movement.

Despite a consistent history of law-breaking, the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union was one of Labor’s biggest financial donors in 2020-21, providing them with $914,375.

The same union was fined more than three times that figure, more than $3 million, during the same period after being found to have broken the law 119 times.

But donations really surged in the lead-up to the last election.

The CFMEU’s donations to the ALP at the 2022 election were double what it spent at the previous election, according to Australian Electoral Commission data.

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union directly donated $1.974 million to the party in the lead-up to Anthony Albanese’s election victory.

Is that “very disturbing” too?

Max Chandler-Mather, Greens Member of the Australian House of Representatives, at the CFMEU protest in Queens Gardens, Brisbane City, on Tuesday 27th August – Photo Steve Pohlner

Is it more disturbing than the sight of the Greens’ spokesman for housing Max Chandler-Mather, donning his tightest black muscle T-shirt to hang out with the naughty kids and shout things about workers’ rights at some rally?

“The political class hate you,” Mr Chandler told the workers at the rally, suggesting they should consider the attempts to crack down on the union as “as a badge of honour”.

Mr Watt tutted: “I think it’s also very, very disturbing that we saw a Greens MP, Max Chandler-Mather, decide to share a stage with the construction union yesterday in Brisbane despite those placards invoking Nazi references, despite the coffins with the Prime Minister’s face.

“The fact that we’ve seen a Greens MP share a stage with an organisation that has condoned violence, organised crime and misogyny, I think says a lot about him and about the Greens party.”

Perhaps he’s right too. Lord knows he also deserves some prize for saying all that with a straight face.

Why? Well, what does it say about the Labor Party that it was prepared to accept cold, hard cash from an organisation that has condoned violence, organised crime and misogyny? Not just share a stage but share the spoils?

Does that say something about the Labor Party too?

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

What does Senator Watt think about that? Is he going to get on the blower to the PM and tell the ALP secretaries to give the money back?

Organised crime and misogyny sound very bad. You wouldn’t want to be taking any money from Very Bad People involved in that, surely?

Or, maybe you would. Maybe, you would take $1.974 million to help get Anthony Albanese elected and then turn around three years later complaining the Greens have CFMEU germs for going to a rally in a black T-shirt?

Talk about telling porky pies. The ALP is up to their neck in political donations from the men and women protesting this week.

Still, they lined up from the Prime Minister down, puffing out their chests and decrying the Greens for cosying up to a union they were happy to take members’ money from to buy ads at the last election.

Lest the Labor Party pretend this is some sort of secret, consider what departed union boss John Setka told me in an interview five years ago.

“We get fantastic pay rises and good conditions for our members because we fight it outside the law,” the CFMEU Victorian secretary said in an interview with Sky News.

“Our members pay us, they are our bosses,” Mr Setka said.

“They expect to be serviced and looked after and that’s our job. And if that sometimes brings us on the wrong side of a bad law – and there [are] bad laws – then so be it.”

Mr Setka also said that “if you play by the laws you will never win”.

Former CFMEU leader John Setka pictured in Adelaide. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

That interview, all those years ago, was prerecorded and withheld so as not to prejudice Mr Setka’s criminal trial which collapsed the day before it aired.

Victorian state prosecutors had just dropped a blackmail case against Mr Setka and his deputy Shaun Reardon over the union’s boycott of concrete company Boral – in the middle of pre-trial hearings and three years after the charges were laid.

At the time, Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said the Turnbull government had “serious questions to answer over their knowledge of events that led to blackmail charges”.

“At what levels were the government involved in what we believe were trumped-up charges against union leaders, not just to put them under pressure but as a campaign to smear unions?” Ms McManus said.

“We will pursue this to the absolute end.”

And now, five years later, here we are.

Does anyone really think the Labor Party was completely blind to the fact bikies and criminals had infiltrated the nation’s richest union?

That they didn’t have a clue until 60 Minutes journalist Nick McKenzie got involved? Despite years of reporting by The Herald Sun, The Australian’s Ewin Hannan and The Age’s Ben Schneiders, among others.

Really? If anyone does, there’s some bridges built by the CFMEU someone might want to sell you.

Originally published as Labor leaves out $1.9m worth of awkward details in attack on Greens’ CFMEU support | Samantha Maiden