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Victorian premier asks Labor to suspend CFMEU from state branch
By Rachel Eddie and Broede Carmody
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has asked the Labor Party to suspend the CFMEU from the state branch and to bar all political donations from the construction division during this period.
Allan has also written to Victoria Police and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission to investigate the allegations made in a months-long investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, AFR and 60 Minutes. That investigation has uncovered unprecedented details of senior bikie figures and criminals being parachuted into lucrative union roles.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan speaks at a press conference on Monday.Credit: Justin McManus
In her first public remarks since former CFMEU Victorian branch secretary John Setka resigned on Friday night ahead of the publication of the investigation, Allan said there was no place for “thuggish, bullying, intimidatory behaviour” in the state.
“What we have seen here in recent days isn’t unionism,” Allan said.
She said she would speak with the federal government and would consider toughening anti-bikie laws.
Earlier on Monday, the CFMEU put its Victorian branch into administration.
Among the revelations revealed by this masthead was a menacing nighttime visit by Setka to the family home of a fellow senior union official to dump a suitcase scrawled with a message attacking the official as a “dog”.
An undercover sting operation caught a self-styled CFMEU fixer offering to bribe construction union officials to push corrupt building firms onto large taxpayer-funded projects.
Watch: Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie questions Jacinta Allan over CFMEU
Unions can’t use ‘hack gangsters’ to get better worker outcomes: Shorten
By Ashleigh McMillan
Federal minister and former union boss Bill Shorten says the union movement has a once-in-a-generation chance to “straighten things out” after the crisis which has enveloped the CFMEU.
It follows explosive reports by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes alleging criminal activity by parts of the union.
Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka resigned on Friday before publication of the first in a series of stories by this masthead about close ties between the Victorian and NSW divisions of the construction union and underworld figures and bikie gangs.
When asked by ABC Melbourne’s Ali Moore whether the revelations about the CFMEU shocked him, Shorten replied, “some of them do”.
Minister for the NDIS and Government Services, Bill Shorten.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Trade unionists, the vast bulk of them, are honest, law-abiding people, and so are most of their representatives,” he said. “But the idea that anyone in the trade union movement is operating with bikies and criminals, that betrays the whole ideal of Australian trade unionism.”
Prior to entering politics, Shorten was the national secretary of the Australian Worker’s Union. He said the investigation into the CFMEU would mean the “status quo is going to be questioned pretty severely”.
There’s an opportunity here to straighten things out, which might be a once-in-a-generation opportunity. And I say that on the basis that unions have a role in workplaces to to get their members, you know, better safety and better conditions.
But you can’t do it using middle men and hack gangsters.
Maybe it’s been a long time coming, but there’s an opportunity for the trade union movement to say, ‘Hey, there is standard we will accept, and there’s a red line we won’t cross.’
Shorten said the rules for unions were simple: “Don’t break the law, don’t ask for kickbacks, don’t engage with bikies”.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of every allegation, and I don’t want to start prejudicing every matter. But on the other hand, something’s not right here in the construction industry… and I think ordinary people know this,” he said.
In response to a call from Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black for a judicial inquiry, Shorten said what was needed was “actual action”.
“For everyone who’s doing the standover, what business person is also engaged? Because for everyone who takes a bribe, there’s also someone giving a bribe.”
Business leader says judicial inquiry needed into CFMEU
By Ashleigh McMillan
The head of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) says he wants to see a judicial inquiry following revelations across the weekend about the CFMEU.
A months-long investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, AFR and 60 Minutes uncovered unprecedented details of senior bikie figures and criminals being parachuted into lucrative union roles.
In a press release, BCA chief executive Bran Black called for a “full, frank and independent judicial inquiry” into the allegations which had the power to compel documents and witnesses.
“Until these allegations are properly investigated and resolved, the CFMEU shouldn’t be able to negotiate any arrangement or contract with any government funded project in the country,” Black said.
“An [independent judicial] inquiry of this nature would have the power to compel documents and witness, which is critical if we are to genuinely get to the bottom of how union officials and criminal organisations have allegedly worked together to profit from government and taxpayer-funded projects.”
Trump describes ‘miracle’ survival after shooting
Taking a quick look at the latest from the US, and former president Donald Trump told The New York Post he’s “supposed to be dead” while recounting the shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania.
He told the newspaper he would no longer be alive if he had not turned his head slightly to the right to read a chart on illegal immigrants.
Donald Trump is helped off the stage following the shooting at his campaign rally.Credit: AP
“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump told the Post.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead. I’m supposed to be dead.”
Trump said he wanted to keep speaking at the rally but Secret Service agents told him it wasn’t safe. He commended the efforts of the agents and praised them for taking out the shooter.
“They took him out with one shot right between the eyes,” he said.
“They did a fantastic job. It’s surreal for all of us.”
Trump’s campaign did not let him be photographed for the interview.
If you’d like to read the latest updates on the investigation into the shooting at Trump’s campaign rally, take a look at our dedicated live blog.
Victoria’s plan to deal with CFMEU allegations labelled ‘pathetic’
By Broede Carmody
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has weighed in on Jacinta Allan’s response to CFMEU intimidation and standover tactics on the state’s Big Build sites.
Here’s a taste of what Pesutto had to say at a press conference a short time ago:
The pathetic actions of the Allan Labor government today will leave the CFMEU alive and well on taxpayer-funded projects. That’s not acceptable.
I would kick the CFMEU off every taxpayer worksite in Victoria. As for donations to the Labor Party … well, the money should be returned. [It] is dirty, rotten money.
We want the CFMEU [permanently] kicked out of the Labor Party.
As reported earlier, Allan has asked Labor officials to suspend the CFMEU from her party’s state branch and called for an immediate pause on all political donations from the construction union.
Victoria has also asked the federal government to review CFMEU enterprise bargaining agreements on state construction sites and use its powers under the Fair Work Act, if necessary, to terminate them to prevent criminal activity.
Opinion: Trump’s radical policy agenda looms larger after shooting
By Stephen Bartholomeusz
This should have been a better week for Joe Biden and for financial markets after last week’s encouraging US inflation news. Instead, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump is dominating the airwaves and conversations within the markets.
The shooting and a bloodied Trump’s defiant fist pumps appear to have accelerated the momentum he had already gained from Biden’s dreadful showing at last month’s debate and shifted the financial markets’ focus away from what was good economic news to the suddenly enhanced prospect of a Trump victory in November.
Former president Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.Credit: AP
In the aftermath of the debate, investors had started to think through the implications of another Trump presidency. Now that prospect has been materially strengthened.
With promises to both extend the tax cuts he implemented in his first term and add another big bout of deregulation, the unwinding of Biden’s big-ticket clean energy initiatives, the greenlighting of more drilling for oil and gas, the mass detention and expulsion of illegal immigrants and his plans to impose a universal tariff of 10 per cent on all imports and a 60 per cent tariff on those from China, a second Trump term would have significant market impacts.
In particular, his trade and immigration policies would be highly inflationary and would probably result in significantly higher interest rates in the United States unless he was able to gain control of the Federal Reserve Board.
Some of those drawing up the plans for another Trump administration have exactly that in mind, even though a central bank that held its policy rate down, even as the inflation rate rose, would add high-octane fuel to any inflationary fires.
Three different strains of bird flu detected in Australia
By Tracey Ferrier
Australia is facing an unprecedented threat from three different strains of bird flu with a fourth on the nation’s doorstep, experts warn.
Poultry farms in Victoria, NSW and the ACT have been hit hard since late May, with chickens being culled to prevent further spread.
The CSIRO said on Monday that genetic sequencing had revealed three different strains of H7 – a highly pathogenic avian influenza – had hit farms at roughly the same time.
It is a grim first for Australia with spillover from Australia’s wild birds blamed.
But just why so many different strains are occurring at the same time remains a mystery.
“These separate viruses are all closely related to Australian-lineage, low-path H7 strains that we know are carried in local wild birds,” said Dr Frank Wong, from the CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.
“There could be many reasons. We don’t really know. The wild bird dynamics at a particular point in time, climate, changes in perhaps weather patterns or just coincidence.”
Australia is also braced for the possible arrival of another very dangerous strain that has caused mass mortality of farmed poultry but also wildlife around the globe.
It is feared the H5 highly pathogenic strain could hit Australia as soon as spring as migratory birds arrive. Australia is the last continent still free of it.
AAP
Minns calls for NSW CFMEU secretary to step down
By Max Maddison
NSW Premier Chris Minns has called for the state’s CFMEU secretary, Darren Greenfield, to step down from his position, flagging he is prepared to launch an inquiry into the union if presented with information.
Minns said he would launch a full inquiry into the NSW branch if any allegations specific to his state came to light, noting he had already called for and seen Greenfield expelled from the NSW Labor division in 2021.
CFMEU official Darren Greenfield.Credit: Rhett Wyman
With Greenfield already facing charges relating to receiving bribes from employers before the courts, Minns said it was not appropriate for the union official to continue in his position.
“Clearly, these are very serious charges before the courts, they couldn’t be more serious, and it’s hard to see how he can continue in that role while facing serious charges before the court. So, I think he should go,” the premier said.
The issues in Greenfield’s case are separate to other allegations of wrongdoing within the union, and the charges have not been proven.
Greenfield denies all wrongdoing and there is no suggestion he is guilty of any offence, only that he is facing charges.
After an investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes which detailed serious misconduct in the Victorian branch of the union, Minns said he was willing to launch an inquiry.
NSW Premier Chris Minns at a press conference last week.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“If there are any allegations, if there is any information that’s presented to the NSW government or NSW Police or union whistleblowers ... we will immediately ask that inspector to launch and conduct a full inquiry,” he said.
“I’m prepared to take further actions if more information is presented to the public. There can be no ambiguity in relation to this.”
Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie questions Jacinta Allan
By Broede Carmody
Jacinta Allan’s press conference has now concluded. But before we move on to other news, let’s take a look at two exchanges between Nick McKenzie, the investigative reporter who broke the CFMEU story, and the Victorian premier.
Investigative reporter Nick McKenzie puts questions to Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.Credit: Justin McManus
Here is the first exchange (edited for length and clarity):
McKenzie: Premier, on April 17, 2023, in response to damning allegations [put in writing] to you by a subcontractor about violence, intimidation and union standover [tactics], you wrote … as the Commonwealth has primary responsibility, they will be best placed to address allegations of illegal behaviour. Why didn’t you act on those allegations then?
Allan: It is very challenging to respond to the correspondence that you’re referring to.
McKenzie: That’s your correspondence, premier.
Allan: Yes. And if there is the opportunity for that correspondence to be provided, I will be happy to provide a response.
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This masthead also asked whether it was appropriate, or enough, for the national branch of the CFMEU to monitor the Victorian branch. Here is that exchange (also edited for length and clarity):
McKenzie: Premier, is it a cop-out for the national CFMEU branch to now lead the administration and clean-up? Isn’t that putting the fox in charge of the hen house? Does there need to be an independent judge appointed?
Allan: Well, Nick, given the federal government holds the responsibility for industrial relations powers, that’s not a question for me. What I have been focused on over the course of this weekend is looking at what further action, what immediate action, we can and must take here in Victoria. And I have outlined that this morning.
McKenzie: Are you aware that a CFMEU state branch has this morning put out a social media statement to its members saying it will be business as usual?
Allan: I’m not aware of that statement.
CFMEU’s rotten culture must be pulled out by its roots: Jacinta Allan
By Rachel Eddie
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she would ask the federal government to use its powers under the Fair Work Act to review – and if necessary, terminate – CFMEU enterprise bargaining agreements on Victorian construction sites to prevent criminal activity.
“This rotten culture must be pulled out by its roots,” Allan said.
Victoria will also undertake an independent review to strengthen the power of state government agencies that rely on construction companies.
“We will also review the ability of Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority to direct the removal of individuals with criminal associations from worksites.”
In a statement, Victoria Police confirmed it had received a referral from the state government and is “currently assessing the matter”.
“We take all reports of corruption extremely seriously and are well placed to investigate any alleged criminality,” the statement said.
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