Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has defended her response to serious allegations against the party’s CFMEU state branch and rejected suggestions she could have intervened sooner, as other state leaders seek to distance themselves from the union.
A joint investigation led by Nine’s Newspapers and 60 Minutes this week uncovered revelations that underworld figures and bikie gang members had infiltrated the state’s union within the construction industry.
Allan faced media again today over fresh reports she was sent documents in 2022 that contained evidence officials from the state’s CFMEU had threatened violence and illegally banned firms from major construction projects.
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The premier rebuffed suggestions she’d failed to call out the CFMEU’s alleged criminal conduct sooner and insisted she had “zero tolerance for this sort of behaviour”.
Allan did concede that serious concerns had been raised with her in writing and in person in the past two years but blamed the failings of federal watchdogs who she said wield the industrial powers.
“I’m the only head of a government in this country to lay out a plan to confront this national menace,” Allan said.
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“I absolutely…accept responsibility and that in partnership with the federal government… we need to take further strong action,” she added.
Allan yesterday moved to suspend all political donations from the CFMEU and is set to refer the union to the state’s anti-corruption commission, IBAC.
“Unions protect workers. But what we’ve seen isn’t unionism – it’s self-interested thuggery at its worst,” Allan told reporters.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles today announced he would no longer meet with union representatives or accept donations until he was satisfied there was no wrongdoing.
“I’ve asked the Police Commissioner to confirm with the Victorian Police that they don’t have any reason to believe that it applies here in Queensland,” he said today.
“We’ll see what the outcomes of those discussions are.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said Labor would not take donations from the CFMEU except for fees the union pays to be part of the party’s state branch.
Western Australia has made no call over suspending donations with Treasurer Rita Saffioti insisting the state was not seeing the same behaviour as its eastern counterparts.
In South Australia, Premier Peter Malinauskas asked Labor’s national executive to suspend affiliation with the party’s construction division of the CFMEU while it launches an investigation into whether any state worksites were linked to criminal conduct.
The federal government is reportedly preparing to appoint an independent administrator to overhaul the CFMEU and clamp down on criminal elements within its ranks.
CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith announced yesterday the Victorian branch had been placed into administration following an emergency meeting.
Smith said the union had a “zero tolerance for criminality”.
“Anyone found to have engaged in criminal conduct while representing the CFMEU will be identified and removed,” Smith said.
“The CFMEU has one purpose and one purpose only and that is to defend and advance the safety and conditions of workers.”
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