‘A crime syndicate’: fallout over shocking union report
Andrew Stafford and Laine Clark |
A militant union’s branch became a “crime syndicate” while a state government did nothing, costing taxpayers billions of dollars, a bombshell report has found.
Barrister Geoffrey Watson SC’s findings claimed organised crime had infiltrated the CFMEU’s Victorian branch under former boss John Setka, lured by the riches of a state government’s major infrastructure upgrade.
Victoria’s $100 billion Big Build launched under Premier Daniel Andrews meant big money for Mr Setka’s CFMEU which became a “violent, hateful and greedy rabble”, the report said.
Building sites became drug distribution points and criminals including killers were hired as the Victorian government and police turned a blind eye, Mr Watson alleged.
The CFMEU’s actions were estimated to have cost Victorian taxpayers more than $15 billion in budget blowouts.
“The union was no longer the champion of the working class – the Setka-era CFMEU turned to looking after gangsters, standover men, bikies, heroin traffickers and even killers,” the report said.
“I have been left with the empty feeling that the Setka-led Victorian branch of the CFMEU was no longer a trade union, it was a crime syndicate.”
Pages from Watson’s report perceived to be highly damaging to the Victorian Labor government had initially been redacted at the request of CFMEU administrator Mark Irving KC, who has referred it to authorities.
Mr Watson’s redacted draft final report was released to Queensland’s inquiry into misconduct in the construction industry in Brisbane on Wednesday.
He told the inquiry he was angry when Mr Irving asked for the pages to be omitted because the administrator believed they fell outside the terms of reference of the federal government commissioned report and were “speculative”.
Mr Watson claimed it was speculative to say “the sun will come up tomorrow”, adding his finding about government inaction on the CFMEU was a “statement of the bleeding obvious”.
But the hearing was also shown pages cut from the report that claimed Victoria’s Labor government was aware of CFMEU misconduct but opted to look the other way.
“There is no doubt the government knew about the rising problem – but it is equally clear that the government did nothing.”
A suggestion the lack of action was due to a close link between the Labor government and the union was an “inadequate and unsatisfactory explanation”, the report noted.
“A better explanation is that the government, just like the contractors, had been cowed by the combination of the industrial might of the CFMEU and its willingness to act outside the law.”
Asked why he thought the Victorian government had been intimidated, Mr Watson told the Queensland inquiry: “The CFMEU had built up such momentum of authority and power that everybody was scared of them”.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan – who was the minister responsible for transport infrastructure during Setka’s CFMEU reign – did not address the media on Wednesday, leaving Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny to front the cameras.
She said her government had not seen the report and was unaware of its contents.
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson accused the state government of turning a “blind eye” and suggested the premier was “utterly compromised”.
The full report was on Wednesday also released to authorities by Mr Irving amid calls for his sacking.
Federal Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson demanded Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth axe Mr Irving over the redactions, calling it an “industrial-scale cover-up”.
Mr Irving said the report had been released so authorities could take “whatever enforcement action” they considered appropriate as the CFMEU entered a “new chapter”.
He took the CFMEU’s reins when it was put into administration nationwide in 2024 amid claims it had been infiltrated by bikies and organised crime figures.
Mr Watson said it would be “mad” to sack Mr Irving who he described as an “honest and decent man”.
AAP
