The CFMEU will be put under the control of an independent administrator after allegations of criminal behaviour within the construction union.
Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke said today that while the union won’t be deregistered, Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong has been empowered to appoint an administrator to take control of it.
“The general manager of the Fair Work Commission is the best person placed to take this action,” Burke said.
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“The action does have a series of complexities… so I want to make the following clear: any action that the general manager takes with respect to any division, any part of the construction division of the CFMEU I, as minister, will intervene in support of that action.
“I do believe these actions are best taken by the regulator but any action to appoint an administrator will be supported by me as minister.”
He added the government will introduce new laws to support the administrator’s actions if they are opposed by the union.
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Burke said he had asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate allegations of criminal activity in the CFMEU, which were reported by 60 Minutes, the Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Australian Financial Review in recent days.
“The reported behaviour from the construction division of the CFMEU is the exact opposite of obligation,” Burke said.
“It’s abhorrent. It’s intolerable.”
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Speaking after the appointment of the administrator, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the union should be deregistered.
“This organisation, the CFMEU, is corrupt and it needs to be deregistered,” he said, adding the move to appoint an administrator “lacks credibility”.
“I think what we’re seeing at the moment from the CFMEU, their thuggish behaviour, the criminal conduct, we’re only just scratching the surface at the moment,” he claimed.
“My view is this will turn out to be the biggest defrauding of the Australian taxpayer in our country’s history.”
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But Burke said deregistration wouldn’t have the desired effect, as WorkChoices legislation introduced two decades ago allows unregistered organisations to operate as bargaining agents.
“If we simply went down the deregistration path, we would have an organisation still capable of bargaining and doing the entire business model we’ve been seeing reported over recent days with no layer of regulation or additional oversight that applies to registered organisations,” he said.
“It would be a gift to the worst elements and I have no intention of going down that path.”
Both Master Builders Australia and the Constructors Association have welcomed the decision to appoint an administrator.
Burke’s announcement came hours after NSW Premier Chris Minns moved to suspend the CFMEU from his state’s branch of the Labor Party.
That followed a report today alleging a hidden police camera inside the union’s Sydney office captured NSW boss Darren Greenfield being handed $5000 in cash.
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