NSW Premier Chris Minns requests expulsion of CFMEU from Labor Party and stops donations after numerous allegations

Mr Minns said he and New South Wales Treasurer Daniel Mookhey had written to the party’s general secretary asking him to get the ball rolling.

“Given the seriousness of the allegations, we have written to the General Secretary of the NSW Labor Party requesting that he take the necessary steps to immediately suspend the CFMEU Construction and General Division’s affiliation with the NSW Labor Party and cease any donations or membership fees,” the statement said.

“The New South Wales Government is working with the Commonwealth Government on a coordinated approach.”

The Federal Government is also being asked to review collective agreements in NSW to which the CFMEU is a party and the NSW Construction Compliance Unit is to investigate the allegations.

Earlier, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that a police camera hidden in the ceiling of the CFMEU’s Sydney office allegedly recorded New South Wales Construction Workers’ Union leader Darren Greenfield being “handed a $5,000 wad of cash as part of an alleged bribe deal.”

Mr Greenfield, who denies any wrongdoing, has been charged over the incident and the matter is before the courts.

“The revelations that have come to light this morning are horrifying,” the New South Wales government said in a statement.

“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 & General Division cannot and will not clean itself up.”

It is expected that further information on the state government’s response to the allegations will be released later today.

The sensational move followed reports by senior journalists from The Age, 60 Minutes and other Nine Network publications uncovering allegations that bikers and criminals had been channelled into lucrative positions at the CFMEU on federal and state government projects.

The federal government is reportedly preparing to appoint an independent administrator to restructure the CFMEU.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley told Sky News Australia on Wednesday that she was “speechless” at the allegations.

“Where is the prime minister? That is our most important question today. He has completely disappeared and this story from New South Wales shows that this problem is not just limited to one state, it is actually a national problem,” she said.