Mafia-style laws are needed to clean up the construction sector and stop Australian taxpayers being “ripped off”, Peter Dutton says.
The federal opposition leader said underworld figures were behind much of the industry, describing it as the biggest corruption scandal in the nation’s history.
Mr Dutton claimed Labor was compromised by having previously accepted donations from the CFMEU and accused the government of turning a blind eye.
“The Albanese government has known for years about the CFMEU, about the abuse and the violence against women, about the extortion, about the links to the outlaw motorcycle gangs,” he told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.
While reiterating his call for the union to be deregistered, Mr Dutton proposed US-style laws to jail organised crime bosses and kingpins even if they were not directly linked to construction sector crimes.
“It will make sure that we have the ability for the police to crush these networks,” he said.
The laws would be based on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations laws used to stamp out organised crime and the mafia in the 1970s.
Mr Dutton said he would write to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday to request drafting resources for the legislation so it could hit federal parliament next week and that the CFMEU and outlaw motorcycle gangs would be subject to it.
It comes after allegations of corruption and violence towards women by the union’s officials were aired by Nine’s 60 Minutes on Sunday.
In one incident, footage showed a woman being bashed by a bikie-linked health and safety representative on his lunch break from a government-funded project.
The CFMEU’s construction division was forced into administration by the Albanese government in 2024 following claims of bikie and organised crime figures infiltrating the union and other serious criminal activity.
Mark Irving KC was appointed administrator.
Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt confirmed the latest allegations would be referred to police for investigation and said he had spoken with Mr Irving.
“He intends to investigate and take action against any serving CFMEU organisers or delegates implicated in these reports,” Senator Watt wrote on X.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the revelations were shocking and unacceptable.
She met with acting Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Rick Nugent on Monday and said the force was “immediately” establishing a task force.
“Operation Hawk will investigate these new allegations but also too pursue a focus on organised crime, on criminal behaviour that may be taking place across worksites here in Victoria,” Ms Allan said.
Victoria Police revealed late on Monday the task force was already operating.
Mr Dutton called the premier’s response “pathetic” and a “wet lettuce” that would green-light the CFMEU to continue its ways.
Mr Irving’s first report revealed corruption and criminal infiltration of the construction industry remained “an area in which much work still needs to be done”.
A separate Victorian review, led by former justice department chief Greg Wilson, recommended a requirement for principal contractors on taxpayer-funded worksites to report suspected criminal behaviour.
It did not cite examples of corruption or criminal infiltration or hold any official or politician accountable.
Geoffrey Watson SC, appointed by Mr Irving to probe wrongdoing in the sector, called the Victorian review “hopeless” and accused the state Labor government of a “cover-up”.
“I disagree,” Ms Allan said.
“We moved quickly last year with a zero-tolerance approach.”
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