Future administrators of the embattled CFMEU would need to demonstrate to the public the union was being cleaned up, amid calls for a new watchdog to oversee the sector.
The CFMEU’s construction division has been accused of taking kickbacks, being linked to organised crime and employing standover tactics on worksites, in a series of Nine newspaper reports.
While the Fair Work Commission plans to appoint an administrator to take control of the union, business groups say more needs to be done.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar says an administrator is only one part of the solution in addressing concerns with the union.
“The public has to have confidence in the solutions that are being sought to be implemented here. It’s not clear that simply the appointment of an administrator will go far enough,” he told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.
“Deregistration needs to still be on the table at the appropriate point in time. We have to have a regulator that has the independence and the resources to really get to the bottom of what’s been happening in the construction industry.”
Independent MP Zoe Daniel says the previous watchdog in the sector, the Australian Building and Construction Commission, wouldn’t be effective in addressing the allegations against the CFMEU.
“I don”t think (the ABCC) was particularly effective,” she told ABC’s Insiders program.
“The ABCC specifically has been so politicised that it’s been impossible for it to be effective. That said, I’m not convinced that an administrator will be enough.
“It probably needs to be coupled with … maybe a state, federal police task force, to look at those criminal allegations, dismantle what’s there.”
It comes as Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen promised to tear the “rotten culture” of the CFMEU “out by its roots”, announcing a review into the construction industry.
Former acting commissioner of the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner Greg Wilson will head up the review, with an interim report to be handed down in six weeks.
“We have zero tolerance for, and need to take strong action to pull this rotten culture out by its roots,” Ms Allan told reporters on Sunday.
“What we need to do is look at what further work we must do to strengthen our processes and systems.”
Ms Allan said while she didn’t want to pre-empt any findings of the review, her government would consider putting in place legislation to strengthen policies to ensure there was a robust system for whistleblowers and complainants.
She committed to sharing the interim report within days of the government receiving it.
The state’s opposition leader John Pesutto said the review would only hide the truth instead of shining a light on it.
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had been half-hearted in his approach by not deregistering the CFMEU.
“This organisation is clearly rotten to the core. It is a cartel being enforced by criminal underworld figures and others like bikies and every Australian is paying the tax for this cartel,” he told Sky News.
“(The prime minister) should deregister the CFMEU, allow other organisations to step up and compete, to represent workers.”
But Assistant Energy Minister Jenny McAllister said the approach to appoint an administrator was the right one.
“Deregistration would allow this same group of people to continue the same things that they are presently doing without regulatory oversight,” she said.
“It’s hard to see how this helps the situation.”
