NSW wants to suspend CFMEU construction branch of ALP

The state government demanded that the CFMEU’s construction arm be suspended by the New South Wales Labor Party.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey have written a letter to the General Secretary of the New South Wales Labor Party following new corruption allegations.

They called on the national association to take the “necessary steps” to immediately suspend the ties between the CFMEU’s Construction and General Department and the party and to stop accepting any donations or membership fees.

“The revelations that have come to light this morning are horrifying,” Mr Minns and Mr Mookhey said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Criminal or corrupt behaviour will not be tolerated at all in the construction industry, in unions or anywhere else.

“It is clear that the CFMEU’s Construction and General Department cannot and will not clean itself up.”

Nine newspapers reported on Wednesday that a police camera hidden in the ceiling of the CFMEU’s Sydney office allegedly caught a construction workers’ union boss accepting a wad of cash in 2020.

It is alleged that the money was a bribe paid by a representative of a construction company in return for union support for a project.

Mr Minns and Mr Mookhey said the New South Wales Labor government was working with the federal Labor government on a “coordinated approach” to dealing with the furore surrounding the CFMEU since allegations of corruption against the Victorian branch emerged on Friday.

“We will also ask the Commonwealth Government to review the collective agreements in NSW to which the CFMEU is a party,” Mr Minns and Mr Mookhey said.

“In addition, the NSW Construction Compliance Unit will liaise with federal regulators and respond to any allegations.

“We must take the necessary measures to protect honest and hard-working construction workers and union members.”

The New South Wales government announced it would provide an update on further planned measures later on Wednesday.

Mr Mookhey suggested that “further action” could include placing the company into receivership in New South Wales, as happened in Victoria earlier this week.

“It is quite obvious that we in NSW are going to take action to overthrow the leadership of NSW,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.

The Treasurer also confirmed that “no money” from the CFMEU would flow to the Labor Party in NSW.

While acknowledging that things could get chaotic, he added that the government was ready to fight “if necessary.”

Mr Mookhey also confirmed that the federal government had been heavily involved in developments surrounding the CFMEU, noting that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suspended Victorian state Labor leader John Setka from the ALP when he became opposition leader in 2019.

“The Prime Minister is right when he says this behaviour is absolutely unacceptable,” he added.

The construction division of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU has come under criticism following allegations of links to members of biker gangs and criminal groups.

The Premier of Victoria earlier this week called for the union to be suspended from the state ALP after the CFMEU national association placed the state branch under receivership.

CFMEU: Time to act, not to fight or to offer reassuring words