The Albanese Government has serious questions to answer about how seriously it is taking cleaning up corruption and criminal activity in the construction industry.
Reporting in The Age reveals the AFP declined a formal request from Victoria Police to investigate alleged cross-border corruption, while industry insiders seeking to report suspected payments to the underworld say they were told federal police had other priorities and there was “too much else on”.
Fair Work Commission General Manager Murray Furlong separately warned AFP command about limited progress in construction industry investigations and the risk that those engaging in unlawful conduct would be emboldened to continue.
Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations Senator Hume said the reports were a damning indictment of Labor’s failed promise to clean up the CFMEU.
“Two years into the administration of the CFMEU, Australians are still waking up to extraordinary allegations of corruption and criminal activity in the construction industry.
“Now we learn that people trying to report suspected corruption were allegedly told there was ‘too much else on’.
“Labor says they’ve ‘taken the strongest possible action’ That claim is looking increasingly pathetic.
“If Labor was serious about cleaning up the CFMEU, it would back my Bill to give the Administrator the power to permanently ban the worst offenders from returning to the union.
“The Albanese Government has had a complete lack of curiosity when it comes to the corruption and criminal activity in the CFMEU. On more than seven occasions, the Coalition has taken a proposal for a nationwide inquiry into construction corruption to the Senate. Labor and the Greens have voted it down every single time.
“Labor can turn a blind eye, but the Coalition won’t. Australians are sick of corruption in the construction industry, and they are sick of their taxes being funnelled into a system plagued by organised crime.
“The Coalition will keep fighting until the corruption is exposed and the CFMEU is cleaned up once and for all,” Senator Hume said.
Shadow Minister for Home Affairs Senator Jonno Duniam said AFP operational independence did not excuse the Albanese Government from answering questions about resources and its response to the warnings.
“Ministers must explain when they became aware of these concerns and what they have done to ensure agencies have the resources they need.
“Labor talks tough in public, but when it comes to stronger powers and parliamentary scrutiny of its union mates, it stands in the way.
“That is a failure of public policy. Workers, honest businesses and taxpayers are paying the price.”
The Coalition reiterates its calls for a Senate Inquiry into corruption in the construction industry. Labor must stop protecting its union mates and support this inquiry, which more than 57,000 Australians have backed.
