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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones. This is 7am.

It’s been nearly four months since all branches of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union were forced into administration and hundreds of union officers were kicked out.

The government wanted a clean slate, after allegations of bullying, intimidation and infiltration from outlaw bikie gangs.

Now, some of those underworld figures are seeking payback and the man tasked with cleaning up the union is facing death threats.

Today, associate editor of The Saturday Paper Martin McKenzie-Murray, on the challenge of cleaning up the CFMEU and the enduring influence of John Setka and his loyalists.

It’s Tuesday, December 17.

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RUBY:

So, Marty, the last time that you were on 7am, back in July, John Setka had just stepped down from the CFMEU following allegations of corruption and links to organised crime. So, since that moment of his departure, what has happened at the union?

MARTIN:

So at the point of Setka’s sudden and immediate resignation, he was pre-empting what he knew would be a series of scandalous stories in the Nine papers. It was a, kind of, an earthquake within the construction industry and certainly the union. And in a number of pieces, whistleblowers had painted a picture of a culture of kickbacks, intimidation, blacklisted workers and this kind of sinister enmeshment with outlaw bikies.

Audio Excerpt - Nick McKenzie:,

“The union is in crisis and, even with John Setka gone, it remains deeply compromised. The bribe payers, bikies, and underworld figures aren't going anywhere fast. And the risk is, without action from governments and the Labor movement, their hold in the construction sector will only get stronger.”

MARTIN:

Since then, legislation was passed to put the CFMEU into administration. The Fair Work Commission appointed Mike Irving KC in late August to serve as the independent administrator of the union. And his inheritance, shall we say, has been incredibly complicated and it's a very difficult and, arguably dangerous, position that he's assumed.

RUBY:

So what sort of danger are we talking about, Marty?

MARTIN:

Yeah. It's been reported that Mike Irving, as the administrator, in October I believe, received information from the Australian Federal Police that there were credible death threats out against him. Mark Irving now travels with a private security detail. The ACTU’s boss, Sally McManus, who has long been critical of John Setka, she gave an interview to the ABC a couple of months ago where she said, you know, her life had substantially changed this year.

Audio Excerpt - Sally McManus:

“I've had to change my routines. I live between different places. That's life unfortunately at the moment because we're standing up to those people. And that, you know, is a price to pay for that but…”

Audio Excerpt - ABC Interviewer:

“Have the police been helpful?”

Audio Excerpt - Sally McManus:

“Yes, they've been helpful.”

MARTIN:

But what I heard last week in my reporting was that the principal targets of retribution from rogue elements, and by that I mean underworld figures, outlaw bikies, is the old leadership. Because they had made, allegedly had made, deals with bikies, certain bikies and certain names were put to me, quite dangerous and unstable figures, “ice-ravaged” was the description that was put to me, are now seeking redress. They are now seeking some returns on their investment for deals that can no longer be fulfilled.

RUBY:

Because the CFMEU is now in administration.

MARTIN:

That's right. And crucially to this, was their concern that perhaps the so-called riots of 2021 in front of the Melbourne offices of the CFMEU, their use of bikies for muscle and to enforce blacklists, that's where the involvement with and indebtedness to bikies really accelerated.

RUBY:

Right, but this old leadership, people in the union loyal to John Setka, have they mostly been removed from the CFMEU now, or not?

MARTIN:

Well, Setka was. He became kind of notorious for stacking various parts of the union with loyalists and people that critics of Setka felt weren't actually qualified for their job. In fact, their only qualification was deference to John Setka.

Audio Excerpt - John Setka:

“And look, I have seen things in the past. We've had our own issues in there with people and we have, over the years, we have dealt with a lot of issues. We have removed people from office.”

Audio Excerpt - 7 News Interviewer:

“How? How have you dealt with them?”

Audio Excerpt - John Setka:

“We've dealt with them internally.”

MARTIN:

Now, whilst there have been some senior suspensions, Setka resigned, his counterpart in New South Wales Darren Greenfield, is suspended and awaiting trial in fact. There are still a substantial number of those loyalists retained in various roles, whether they be shop stewards or whether they be administrative positions. And what I've heard is that new staff, that is staff brought on by Mark Irving, some of those staff have suspicions about other staff and are concerned that their work might be undermined by these old Setka loyalists that remain in the union.

Elsewhere, certain bands of people loyal to Setka are behaving in such a way as it contradicts the independent authority of the administrator and it creates a fear, rational or not, amongst members that the old guard will come back. That the administrator is insufficiently strong to rein in these kind of rogue influences, rogue factions, still loyal to Setka.

RUBY:

After the break, the alleged illegal practices still happening under the administrator’s nose.

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RUBY:

Marty, you’ve been speaking to various CFMEU sources about the administration and the work that it is now doing. So, what sense are you getting of how it is going?

MARTIN:

It's all incredibly complicated. I should, I should point out that these sources who are union officials and union members, they are people who themselves have been intimidated, blacklisted, threatened. They've risked a fair amount. And I guess that's a, sort of, very personal and heightened context for their frustrations with the administration. They, you know, understandably, want the risks that they've taken to pay off. And that pay off is the, is the substantial and meaningful reform of their union. And so, what was put to me in the last week is, from the office of the national secretary,Zack Smith, a text message was sent to shop stewards, of which there are roughly 600. And in it, he reminds shop stewards to enforce what is an illegal policy. And that's ‘no ticket, no start.’

RUBY:

And what does that mean?

MARTIN:

What that means is refusing entry to non-union workers. And that's been illegal for some time. And the CFMEU, in that regard, are serial offenders. In fact, just two years ago, the High Court expressed its frustration with the union saying that they were notoriously serial offenders in that regard. And they said that that indifference to financial penalties is such that it suggests that they just consider these fines as the cost of its preferred business model. And on this, I put a number of very specific questions to the CFMEU administrator. They would not speak to that. Now, the frustration with the officials and members that I've been speaking to is not only that brazenness but that it sends a mixed message; ‘So who's actually in charge here?’ they asked.

RUBY:

And like you said, you put some questions to the administration which they wouldn’t answer, but what have they said about the progress they've made so far when it comes to cleaning up the union?

MARTIN:

It's very difficult. Like, I should point out that Mark Irving’s inheritance is a... it's a complicated one. So simultaneously, the administration is, it assumes an investigative capacity or responsibility, as well as an administrative one. It is also fairly early days for its existence and still they're determining the scope of its investigations, they're determining what things to specifically investigate, and they counsel patience. But when the administration came in, it had a legislated lifespan of 3 to 5 years. Well, at the moment we're looking at 3 to 4 months. There's also a High Court appeal, which is due to be heard very soon and which says that the administration itself is invalid. So that has, I think, encouraged a certain caution and slowness as well. But when things like this are happening, it gives the sense that the Setka loyalists that remain in the union are operating in a way that may undermine the independence and the credibility of the administration. I'll give you another example. In October, there was a delegate's meeting, whereby a motion was passed to conceive a donation kitty for ousted or suspended members like Setka. Although he wasn't suspended, he'd resigned. And what was requested was a $100 donation, with the prospect of future donations being made as well, amongst shop stewards. Now you times that by roughly 600 and you've got a little bit of money there. The idea for that was a donation kitty that would benefit those who were perhaps unemployed, but that happened before their very substantial payouts were made public. And now there's some frustration that they were being asked to make these donations when John Setka, for example, it's been reported has received about a $450,000 payout. So there are questions about what use that money will be put to. I know the CFMEU administrator is aware of those donation requests and doesn't like them, but would not respond formally to my questions about its appropriateness. But in response to some very specific questions I put to them, they were only confident in responding with a one-line, rather platitudinous response, which was “the administrator is committed to keeping the union strong and ensuring it's returned to the genuine democratic control of the membership, free of criminality and corruption, and delivering better safety, pay and conditions”. Which is what you would expect, but that kind of calming restatement of mission belies what is a much more complicated and arguably dangerous situation.

RUBY:

So Setka might be gone, but his presence is still very much being felt, it sounds, inside the CFMEU. What is John Setka doing now, Marty?

MARTIN:

Recently, John Setka made a worker's compensation claim for PTSD, an affliction he says was acquired through his work as union leader. A few things contributed to that, he says the number of death threats he's received in his time and also his attendance. He was, kind of, one of the first on the scene of the 2013 Swanston Street wall collapse, which proved fatal, and he was there giving aid. Now, officials and members said to me they love the fact that Setka has made this claim. They love it. Now what they say is this application for worker's compensation seems really hypocritical, because Setka famously was pretty indifferent to appeals for comfort and sympathy. In fact, one of his favourite lines, and several people told me, you know, having heard this directly from Setka over the years, was they should drink a cup of concrete and harden the fuck up. And so there is some bitter astonishment amongst union members about that application for compensation. One said “members see this as a money grab”, another said “he's got more front than Myers”, a third said “this rat is claiming PTSD, are you fucking kidding me?” And whatever existing or surviving sympathy for John Setka still exists, they say his application for worker's compensation has eroded that. And that ring of people who didn't have much respect for him but kept their mouth shut may shrink and people become kind of a little braver in speaking out about him.

RUBY:

Marty, thank you so much for your time.

MARTIN:

Thank you.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today...

The five remaining members of the Bali Nine, returned to Australia after nearly two decades in an Indonesian prison, say they are looking to reintegrate into society.

The five Australians were part of a group convicted for their roles in an attempt to smuggle heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005.

A statement issued on behalf of the men said they were "relieved and happy" after Indonesia’s decision to allow them to come home.

And,

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ overhaul of the Reserve Bank’s board has been finalised, with six new appointees to the RBA’s new governance board and monetary board announced.

The appointments will begin in March when the RBA’s board is formally split into two, with one to control interest rates, and the other to manage the bank’s affairs.

I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am. See you tomorrow.

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