While some state leaders attempt to separate themselves from the union, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has defended her response to grave charges against the party’s CFMEU state branch and rejected claims she might have acted sooner.
This week, a combined investigation by Nine’s Newspapers and 60 Minutes revealed that members of the bikie gang and underworld figures had penetrated the state’s union inside the construction industry.
Allan was in the news today once more because to new claims that she received documents in 2022 that showed that CFMEU officials had threatened violence and unlawfully barred businesses from large building projects.
The premier declared she had “zero tolerance for this sort of behaviour” and rejected claims that she had been less vocal in denouncing the CFMEU’s suspected illegal activities.
While acknowledging that she had received severe concerns in writing and in person over the previous two years, Allan placed the responsibility on the shortcomings of federal watchdogs who, in her opinion, possess the industrial authorities.
“I’m the only head of a government in this country to lay out a plan to confront this national menace,” Allan stated.
“I absolutely…accept responsibility and that in partnership with the federal government… we need to take further strong action,” she stated.
Allan filed a motion yesterday to halt the CFMEU’s political donations altogether, and he intends to report the union to the state’s IBAC anti-corruption body.
“Workers are protected by unions.
However, what we’ve witnessed isn’t unionism; rather, it’s the worst kind of self-serving thuggery, Allan said.
Premier of Queensland Steven Miles declared today that he would not take donations or meet with union representatives until he was certain there had been no impropriety.
“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 stated today.
“We’ll see what the outcomes of those discussions are.”
Labour will only accept donations from the CFMEU to cover the costs associated with the union’s membership in the party’s state branch, according to NSW Premier Chris Minns.
Treasurer Rita Saffioti of Western Australia has stated that the state is not witnessing the same behaviour as its eastern counterparts, but she has not called for a suspension of donations.
Premier Peter Malinauskas of South Australia requested that Labor’s national executive revoke membership in the party’s CFMEU construction division while it conducts an inquiry into any possible connections between criminal activity and state worksites.
It has been claimed that the federal government is getting ready to name an independent administrator to restructure the CFMEU and take tough measures against criminal elements within its ranks.
Zach Smith, the national secretary of the CFMEU, declared yesterday that the Victorian chapter had been put under administrative control after an urgent meeting.
Smith declared there was “zero tolerance for criminality” within the union. “Anyone found to have engaged in criminal conduct while representing the CFMEU will be identified and removed,” Smith stated.
“The CFMEU has one purpose and one purpose only and that is to defend and advance the safety and conditions of workers.”
