PETER VAN ONSELEN: There are only two explanations for how the CFMEU got away with thuggish behaviour under Jacinta Allan’s nose for a decade – and both mean she has to go

Jacinta Allan must resign as Premier of Victoria.

The widespread threat of violence and links to criminal motorcycle gangs within the Victorian branch of the CFMEU played out right under Allan’s nose, during her time as Infrastructure Minister before becoming Premier.

If she doesn’t want to take the political fall, no one will.

During her time as Infrastructure Minister, Allan had the closest ties and oversight of the CFMEU, and political donations to the Labor Party flowed in quickly and generously. Hundreds of thousands of dollars helped the new Prime Minister and her government to be re-elected. Furthermore, the CFMEU operates within its faction, as the union’s main power broker.

Allan has finally stated that no more donations will be accepted from the CFMEU, but what about a promise to repay the funds already received? That is probably too virtuous for this compromised PM.

Allan’s best-case scenario is that she was kept completely unaware of what was happening under her nose for ten years, as she was the minister most closely associated with the corrupt CFMEU and responsible for major construction projects in Melbourne.

Do the people of Victoria really want someone so incompetent to run their state?

All this mess is Allan’s best case scenario. The worst case scenario is much more worrying.

Former Victorian CFMEU leader John Setka (left) has resigned following investigations into the powerful branch

Anthony Albanese has to be given credit for kicking out former CFMEU Victorian leader John Setka from the Labor Party in 2019. Albeit for entirely different reasons. But that’s where Albo’s actions began and ended. Window dressing.

On the policy front, Albo has allowed his ministers to bend the rules in favour of the CFMEU, contributing to the mess we see now.

Allegations of corrupt behaviour within the militant union on construction sites continued to surface. But the means of oversight to tackle them had been withdrawn. And of course the political donations continued to flow, both to the ACTU and the Labor Party.

For his part, CFMEU national head Zach Smith has dismissed the mounting evidence condemning the state branch of the union he leads as “just accusations,” saying the outgoing Setka “leaves an impressive industrial legacy.”

The stench of Labor and CFMEU affiliation is now so pervasive that only a fully independent inquiry has a chance of revealing the truth. Yet Allan has already dismissed talk of a Royal Commission. Funny.

The CFMEU national secretary wants to conduct the investigation internally. This is a ridiculous proposal.

ACTU head Sally McManus opposes the deregistration of the CFMEU, which is not surprising given that their substantial donations are largely channelled through her organisation.

Money talks in union circles and the CFMEU has plenty of it, which is why Labour always trip over themselves to abolish building watchdogs once they form government.

Militant CFMEU faces mounting pressure to be independently investigated

At the federal level, the Kevin Rudd government abolished the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), which John Howard had established after winning the 2007 election. Surprise, surprise, problems were avoided.

When Victorian Labor returned to power in 2014 under Dan Andrews, it abolished the state-based watchdog established by the outgoing Liberal government, the Consultation Code Compliance Commission. It was the first act of the new Labor government. It was done at the behest of Setka and his union.

At the federal level, the Albanian government abolished the ABCC again when it won the 2022 election, after Malcolm Turnbull had re-established the party just a few years earlier.

The political ping-pong between the major parties over construction industry regulatory provisions must stop. The first step is not just to remove compromised union officials, but to remove compromised politicians who have thrived under a status quo that stinks to high heaven.

Allan is one of those politicians who just needs to go.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus (pictured) opposes deregistering the CFMEU despite allegations

Her failures around the CFMEU are compounded by her role as Minister responsible for the 2026 Commonwealth Games bid. When it failed, it cost Victorian taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The incompetence of the whole saga is another blot on her copybook.

While it is difficult for the Victorian Labor Party to look for a new premier so soon after the appointment of the current premier, the party has no choice.

If Allan’s involvement in the mess on Victorian building sites was nothing more than sheer incompetence, such that she knew nothing about it despite her ministerial role, then she must go. If she was guided by a wilful blind eye to wrongdoing, then she must also be investigated.

If Allan’s slowness to act, for whatever reason, was not limited to herself but extended to the federal Labor sphere, more heads should roll, no matter how high up in the pecking order that responsibility falls.