CFMEU: Minister Tony Burke announces independent administrator will take control of disgraced construction arm

An independent administrator is set to be appointed to take over control of the disgraced construction arm of the CFMEU, and the AFP have been asked to investigate, after a series of damning reports alleged that bikies and underworld criminal figures had infiltrated the Victorian branch.

Describing the alleged behaviour as “abhorrent and intolerable”, Federal Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke on Wednesday confirmed he had written to Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong, who is now seeking advice on a court-appointed administrator.

“The number one job of any union is to look after its members. That’s the job of the union and the job of officials. The reported behaviour from the construction division of the CFMEU is the exact opposite of that obligation,” Mr Burke said.

Separately, the powerful Australian Council of Trade Unions has suspended the beleaguered construction and general division amid the sensational fallout from the Nine newspapers’ scathing expose, which on Wednesday broadened to implicate the NSW branch division.

Defending the decision not to deregister the union, Mr Burke said the government was taking the “toughest” course of action available to it, with the administrator set to be given scope to probe the construction arm’s NSW, Queensland and Victorian branches, the latter of which controls South Australia and Tasmania.

The respective state governments have all sought to distance themselves from their local union branch, including suspending political donations.

Mr Burke vowed to do what ever it takes to ensure an administrator could get in and clean up the rot, including potentially intervening by introducing legislation, to “remove any barriers to appointing administrators to whatever sections of the construction division of the CFMEU where the general manager believes it’s appropriate”.

“The government will ensure that the regulator has all the powers he needs to appoint administrators,” he said.

It defies national secretary Zach Smith’s insistence just a day earlier that the national branch could be trusted to clean up its house, but his support this week of exiled former state secretary John Setka - who quit as the bombshell reports began to emerge - raised pressure on the federal government to take stronger action.

Denying he had any knowledge of the alleged links between the union and organised crime gangs before reports emerged this week, Mr Burke confirmed he had written to the Australian Federal Police to ask them to investigate allegations of criminal ties.

Mr Burke said he also requested that the Fair Work Ombudsman undertake a targeted review of all enterprise agreements made by the Victorian branch of the union’s construction division that apply to the state’s Big Build projects.

“I stress on this, we’re seeking information on coercive behaviour – the government has no intention of taking any action which would put at risk the terms and conditions of employment of the workers who are covered by those agreements,” he said.

“This is not their fault.”

The decision was praised by Master Builders Australia, the Australian Constructors Association, and the ACTU.

The ACTU has further resolved to suspend the construction and general division from the council “until they are in a position where they can demonstrate to us that they are a well functioning, clean union free of any criminal elements”.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus urged the CFMEU leadership to support and cooperate with the independent external administrator.

“This is the very best way building workers can get to a situation, where they can be confident their union is free of criminal elements, and free of any corruption. It is a necessary step, and I am genuinely urging the CFMEU to support and work with it,” she said.

Queensland and Northern Territory secretary Michael Ravbar meanwhile accused the Albanese government of putting tens of thousands of workers at risk, declaring the CFMEU would not buckle under media or political pressure.

“Albanese has panicked and soiled himself over some unproven allegations in the media,” he said.

“The CFMEU is here to stay. This union is owned by the members, not media moguls or spineless politicians. We will defend each other to the ends of the earth.”

The National Executives, set to meet on Thursday, are likely to discuss banning donations from the Victorian branch - and potentially other states and the national branch - at a federal level, as well as working through requests from state premiers to suspend affiliation between the union and state parties.

Mr Burke said they were prepared to make some “strong decisions” about what further action the Party could take.

But he said he had “no intention” of going down the path of deregistration, which the Coalition had been pushing for, saying that could still leave open loopholes and was no longer the “toughest action” the government could take.

“If we simply went down the deregistration path, we would have an organisation still capable of bargaining and doing the entire business model that we’ve been seen reported in recent days, with no layer of regulation or additional oversight that applies to registered organisations,” he said.

“It would be a gift to the worst elements and I have no intention of going down that path.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said while “nothing will be taken off the table”, he had faith in the actions instigated by Mr Burke.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the government “needs” to deregister the union.

“If the Prime Minister had any backbone whatsoever, he would deregister the CFMEU,” Mr Dutton said.

Coalition workplace relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Mr Albanese and Mr Burke had taken the “weaker option”, which would leave the door open to more bad behaviour in the future.

“Appointing an administrator is unlikely to have any long-term impact on the CFMEU. They will still have all their systems in place and we will see individuals from the old leadership continue to pull the strings behind the scenes,” she said.

“When the period of administration is over they will simply return to their old practices.

“The CFMEU needs to be deregistered and a new body established which respects law and order and works in the best interests of its members.”

Mr Albanese, speaking from a Brisbane childcare centre, denied his government’s action was weak, and praised Mr Burke for his “decisive” action.

“We’ve acted swiftly to ensure that administrators are put in. If there’s any challenge to that, we’re prepared to legislate to ensure that occurs,” he said.

He also pointed to his decision in 2019 to expel Mr Setka from the Labor Party.

He said the union would be suspended from engagement with the Party, but denied it had shamed Labor.

“(These allegations) have shamed the people involved with it ... I have no tolerance for the behaviour that’s been exposed in recent days,” he said.

Mr Dutton and Senator Michaelia Cash both also called for the government to reintroduce the Australian Building Construction Commission to prevent such behaviour from being allowed to happen again.

Mr Burke expressed that was unlikely to occur.

“While critics don’t like the numbers on this, the reality is since we abolished the ABCC, the number of days lost to industrial disputes has fallen by 30 years,” he said.

“It was during the years of the ABCC that these elements significantly rose to power.

“Let’s not forget the ABCC was never able to conduct a criminal investigation. They were not a criminal body. They were a civil body.”