It was a day for scurrying at the Victorian Parliament on Tuesday. Darren Cheeseman popped up in his Legislative Assembly seat during a condolence motion for Labor legend Barry Pullen.
It was the first time Cheeseman had been spotted since he was punted from the Labor Party over what Premier Jacinta Allan said were concerns over allegations of “persistent, inappropriate” behaviour.
Cheeseman’s return to parliament did not include conversations with the press pack.Credit: AAP
He asked for privacy and hasn’t been seen since. He managed to avoid the substantial press pack at the doors on the way in and wasn’t spotted on his way out.
Not so lucky was Labor backbencher Luba Grigorovitch, whose staunch support for disgraced CFMEU boss John Setka has been a little uncomfortable ever since his resignation and the subsequent implosion of the union.
The former union chief has had little to say and kept it that way when a Nine camera crew tried to stop her for a chat outside the house.
She did a great job of “talking” on her phone (CBD cannot confirm there was someone on the other end of the call) almost all the way to the doors of her office complex before stopping to see what they’d like to know.
Grigorovitch was already halfway through the door by the time journo Heidi Murphy asked if she regretted her strong support for Setka.
CBD heard something about not discussing her conversations with “John” before the doors closed.
Happily we already have some insight into those conversations courtesy of leaked text messages published as part of The Age’s Building Bad investigation, in which Grigorovitch was highly supportive of Setka, bagged the media and – awks – complained about the state government.
She emerged later on Tuesday to happily pose for an Instagram snap and video proudly promoting her tabling of the electoral matters committee’s review of the 2022 election. Grigorovitch chairs the committee.
Luba Grigorovitch was in no mood to discuss union matters. She was in the mood to post on Instagram.Credit: Instagram
Business as usual
While we’re on union matters, ask any experienced hand in the development game and they’ll tell you timing is everything in property.
Pity poor ASX-listed building giant Mirvac, whose timing through the recent CFMEU scandal is, well, awkward, to say the least.
Fair Work Commission documents reveal that on July 9, the $8 billion company signed a new pay deal with the union. The next day, CFMEU NSW boss Darren Greenfield added his signature to the enterprise bargaining agreement.
This would be the deal that gave workers a 7 per cent pay rise this year and 22 per cent in total over four years.
Anyhow, two days later, the Building Bad investigation from The Age, 60 Minutes and The Australian Financial Review exploded into the world with Setka’s resignation.
CFMEU NSW secretary Darren Greenfield.
In the next couple of days the federal government moved to put the whole union in administration and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced she would review every construction EBA in the state.
It got worse. On July 17, this masthead published photographs of Greenfield allegedly being passed a $5000 bundle of cash as part of a suspected kickback deal.
Greenfield fiercely denies any wrongdoing, but it was enough for NSW premier Chris Minns to seek a review of EBAs in his state too.
Talk about timing! Anyhow, the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday approved the Mirvac EBA, locking the company into the deal for four years.
Now CBD is not a corporate workplace lawyer – you can tell by our car – but maybe Mirvac could’ve asked the commission to hit pause on that approval? Y’know, just to see how things go?
Mirvac was contacted for comment last night.
As for the CFMEU, it told us earlier in the day it wouldn’t be commenting to Nine’s metro publications while its journalists were on strike. Good to have principles.
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