New watchdog needed to weed out 'toxic elements'
in CFMEU, independent MP says
================================================

The Albanese government's plan to appoint an
independent administrator to take control of the
CFMEU will not be enough to clean up the
embattled union's "toxic elements", the
independent MP Zoe Daniel says, suggesting the
industry may need a new watchdog.

The leftwing union has been under fire after
Channel Nine and its mastheads began publishing
allegations of organised crime links within the
construction branch in Victoria.

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The workplace relations minister, Tony Burke,
announced on Wednesday he would empower the Fair
Work Commission to appoint independent
administrators to CFMEU branches. He flagged
that new legislation could be introduced as a
priority at the next sitting of parliament if
the union put up a legal fight.

Burke also said he had asked the AFP to
investigate the allegations in tandem with state
police.

Daniel, the journalist turned teal MP, said a
broader approach was necessary to deal with the
issue and that could include the creation of a
new building union watchdog with teeth to
respond to any misconduct.

"The toxic elements of the CFMEU absolutely have
to be cleaned out. And so maybe that's an
administrator and a police investigation ... and
then a form of watchdog as well," Daniel told
ABC's Insiders on Sunday.

"Everyone has known to some degree that it has
been going on, and it does feel like it has been
convenient to turn a blind eye and it is now
Labor's problem. There's risk and they have to
resolve this."

The Australian Building and Construction
Commission was established in 2016 under the
former Coalition government and abolished in
early 2023 under Labor.

Daniel, who voted in favour of its abolishment
as part of an omnibus bill, said it had been so
heavily politicised by the Coalition it was
rendered ineffective.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, described
Labor's move to appoint an independent
administrator as the "weakest possible path" and
pledged to introduce a bill to parliament to
restore the ABCC in the next sitting period.

On Sunday, the assistant climate change
minister, Jenny McAllister, said it was "pretty
difficult to take lectures" from Dutton given
the ABCC had done little about the allegations
during its seven years in operation.

When asked about Dutton's 2019 claim that
outlawed motorcycle gangs had "their fangs" in
the CFMEU, McAllister asked why something hadn't
been done about it then.

"If he knew about it, why didn't he do something
about it? We are not talking about this issue.
We are acting on it," she told Sky News' Sunday
Agenda.

The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, said
Albanese should deregister the union, bring back
the ABCC and hand back any political donations
the CFMEU had given to Labor.

"This organisation is clearly rotten to the
core," he said on Sky News.

On Thursday, the ALP federal executive announced
it was suspending the affiliation rights of the
Victorian, NSW, Tasmanian and South Australian
branches of the CFMEU's construction division.

The federal executive won't take any fees from
the CFMEU during this time and delegates will
not be allowed to vote.

McAllister said: "We don't want them to be
involved in our party until it is clear that
there are no criminal elements at all involved."

"That's the right thing to do."

Guardian Australia contacted the CFMEU's
national branch for a response.

Earlier in the week, the New South Wales
premier, Chris Minns, announced he had asked for
the union's affiliation with the state Labor
party to be immediately suspended and donations
and fees to be stopped.

He also said the union's state boss, Darren
Greenfield, should step down while he faces
charges of bribery.

In response, the union wrote to Minns this week
threatening to release a list of government MPs,
some of which are now ministers, and senior
public servants who had previously met with
Greenfield.

Acting opposition leader, Damien Tudehope, said
the premier should immediately refer the letter
to the state's independent corruption watchdog
and disclose the terms of the meetings with the
CMFEU before the last election.

A spokesperson for Minns on Sunday confirmed
that ministers in the current and former
governments had met with the union in recent
years and said "the government will not resile
from the actions it has taken".



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