All branches of the construction arm of the CFMEU placed in administration

All branches of the construction arm of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union have been forced into administration at the direction of Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

The order includes the ACT branch of the CFMEU which, along with the WA branch, was originally expected to be left out of the administration order.

Melbourne lawyer Mark Irving has been appointed the union’s administrator.

Mr Dreyfus said his decision was made in the public interest and kicks in straight away.

“I have decided it is in the public interest, having regard to the parliament’s intention in enacting the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009, to place the Construction and General Division of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union and all of its branches – including the WA and ACT branches – into administration,” the Attorney-General said.

“I have determined a written scheme of administration and the general manager of the Fair Work Commission has appointed Mr Mark Irving KC as the administrator and contacted Mr Irving to notify him of his appointment.

“The scheme of administration of the Construction and General Division of the CFMEU takes effect immediately.

“I have made this decision under section 323B of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009, having been authorised to do so by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations [Murray Watt].”

Legislation passed late on Monday (19 August) to force the union into administration after Labor struck a deal with the Coalition to support a three-year minimum period of administration.

The government introduced the legislation after the CFMEU refused to voluntarily accept an administrator and began delaying developments through court action.

The bill was initially delayed when the Coalition and the Greens thwarted attempts to force a vote on the issue.

The Greens suggested the legislation was going too far and wanted more scrutiny, while the Coalition said the bill wasn’t going far enough and sought a string of amendments.

The stalemate was broken following further public debate and backroom negotiations that cut the Greens out completely.

The Coalition had a claim of 20 demands in order to agree to the bill, with the government initially rejecting three of them.

The big one was the Coalition insisting that the administration period for the CFMEU should be set at a minimum, rather than a maximum, of three years.

Labor was also forced to fold on other Opposition demands if it wanted the bill to pass.

They included that the administrator reports twice yearly to the parliament, with the Fair Work Australia general manager to appear before Senate Estimates to be grilled on the administration.

The CFMEU is now also banned from making political expenditures and giving any political donations during its administration period.

Action against the union follows media reports alleging bullying, intimidation and criminal behaviour by some CFMEU officials.

A number of Labor governments acted swiftly to suspend the party’s affiliation with the construction division of the union and to expel some members.

Speaking from Queensland on Friday (23 August), Anthony Albanese stressed that corruption in the building industry had to be stamped out.

“We know that trade unionists do a great job when they look after the wages and conditions of their members, but there’s no place for corruption or intimidation in the building industry,” the Prime Minister said.

“To have a corrupt union, you need a corrupt employer to be paying them money and there’s no place for it.”