Why John Setka’s ‘thuggish’ CMFEU has been thrown into administration – and what it means for Australia

The “evil” Australian construction union will continue to work on major construction projects in Victoria despite being in receivership, legal experts and the opposition have warned.

The CFMEU’s Victoria branch was placed under administration on Monday after reports emerged of motorcyclists acting as union representatives, including one officer earning $250,000 a year as a health and safety officer.

Experts predict the branch’s failure will have no impact on Victorians building their own homes or large-scale infrastructure projects.

The union’s national office has now taken over executive power, dominating the state branch, after John Setka stepped down as Victoria secretary.

However, employment law expert Professor Andrew Stewart has warned that CFMEU officials will continue to oversee construction sites in Victoria despite the state department being declared bankrupt.

“There are no legal implications at all, unlike what would happen if the union were to be deregistered, which is unlikely at this point,” the University of Adelaide academic told Daily Mail Australia.

This means the CFMEU will continue to maintain an iron grip on major projects, including the Labor government’s $90 billion Big Build programme, which includes 165 road and rail projects.

Senator Michaelia Cash, the opposition spokeswoman for employment and industrial relations, said the union would continue its “assault-mongering” behaviour unless it was deregistered.

“The appalling behaviour at the CFMEU, including violence, assault, intimidation and bullying, has been going on for a number of years,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

“It’s time for this union to be deregistered. They’ve made it clear for a number of years that they have no intention of changing their behavior.

“They have to start over.”

Employment and Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke has so far refused to call for deregistration, despite Nine Network’s Damaging Investigation in the union.

“The fact that John Setka is gone is a start. It’s certainly not the end of what needs to happen,” he told ABC Insiders on Sunday.

‘Criminal elements, for example people involved in criminal motorcycle gangs, holding the position of local representatives, that is completely unacceptable.’

Zach Smith, national secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy union, said on Monday he would clean up the branch in Victoria.

“The CFMEU has zero tolerance for criminality of any kind. Anyone found to be engaging in criminal behaviour while representing the CFMEU will be identified and removed,” he said.

The CFMEU congratulated Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the dissolution of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, a coalition government agency that targeted the construction workers union in December 2022.

“Anthony Albanese and the Labour Party had a clear mandate to abolish the ABCC,” it said at the time.

Former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke dissolved the old Builders Labourers Federation in 1986 over misconduct and the Coalition now wants the CFMEU to suffer the same fate.

Professor John Buchanan, an industrial relations expert at the University of Sydney, said the CFMEU was set up as a clear break from the BLF, where heavy, unskilled workers were actively recruited to intimidate management.

“The whole idea behind the creation of the CFMEU was to combat that, but eventually problematic forces took over the whole thing,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘The CFMEU was supposed to put the carpenters in charge, but in the end the workers took over – irony.

“The problem has always been bigger in Victoria.”

The CFMEU’s Victoria branch last month secured a 21 percent pay rise for its members over four years.

The union’s national office has voted to take on executive powers, taking over from the state department after John Setka stepped down as Victoria secretary

Professor Buchanan said corruption in the construction sector, involving both unions and construction companies, was a global problem.

“The problem is not militancy, it is corruption,” he said.

‘There is a lot of corruption in the construction industry and this is not unique to Australia.

“If you talk to honest people in the construction industry, they will say there are simply problems with builders not honoring their contracts. There is a lot of money and a lot of uncertainty.”

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn has called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman to investigate the CFMEU rather than allow the national branch to take over the Victorian division.

“A self-organized internal investigation is not enough,” she said.