Key Points
- During the Victorian Liberal state council, Peter Dutton attacked the Albanese government’s handling of the CFMEU case.
- The union has been thrust into the spotlight over allegations of corruption and links to organised crime figures.
- Federal Labor has cut ties with the construction branch of CFMEU due to the allegations.
Peter Dutton has criticised the beleaguered Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) as he rallies Liberal Party faithful ahead of the federal election.
In a wide-ranging speech at the Victorian Liberal state council on Saturday, the Opposition leader spent several minutes attacking the Albanese government’s handling of allegations of criminality within the CFMEU, accusing the prime minister of turning a blind eye.
He said Australians had known about the union’s criminal links for more than a decade and claimed it was costing Australian taxpayers billions of dollars.
“With it’s gang-like conduct, the CFMEU has heightened costs on project controls by some 30 per cent,” Dutton said.
Former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett, who was bestowed life membership to the Victorian Liberal Party, called for Dutton to consider establishing an “independent” royal commission into the CFMEU and their relationship, if any, with MPs.
During his speech, Dutton also said Australians were not being offered a vision from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and that identity politics has been “undermining national unity.”
“Vision has fallen victim to many things … From political short-termism to small-target strategies, to the elevation of sexual interests to pandering to identity politics which is undermining national unity,” said Dutton.
Albanese avoids CFMEU topic at major party conference
Also on Saturday, Anthony Albanese used a high-profile speech to push Labor’s case for re-election but didn’t address the CFMEU situation.
The prime minister’s address to the NSW Labor State Conference on Saturday outlined a list of his government’s achievements since being elected in 2022. His headline announcement was the addition of the Jabiluka site to Kakadu National Park to ensure its cultural heritage is protected.
But the winding speech did not address the embattled CFMEU, whose members were banned from the conference after a string of recent scandals including allegations organised criminals and bikies had infiltrated the union.
Tensions threatened to flare earlier in the conference when one speaker labelled the party’s decision to as “the right one”.
A number of delegates yelled “shame” while another called out “how about some solidarity”.
NSW Premier Chris Minns wrote to the state’s Labor branch on 17 July to demand the division be suspended after allegations a senior official was caught on film accepting a bundle of cash in 2020.
On 18 July, Labor’s national secretary Paul Erickson announced it would suspend the CFMEU’s construction division’s affiliation to the NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmanian branches of the party.
