Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said on Friday he deemed it in the “public interest” to place the union into administration, including its WA and ACT branches.
It’s been reported that more than 270 paid union officials have been dismissed and the roles of elected members vacated.
Legislation passed on Monday means a minimum three years of administration for the CFMEU, which will make no donations to the ALP during this period.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that he wanted to stamp out corruption in the building industry.
“We know that trade unionists do a great job when they look after the wages and conditions of their members, but there’s no place for corruption and intimidation in the building industry,” he said.
“To have a corrupt union, you need a corrupt employer to be paying them money, and there’s no place for it.”
The Albanese Government began work in July to place the union under administration nationally following media reports into the CFMEU, after which its South Australian and Victorian branches entered voluntary administration.
Victorian union secretary John Setka resigned just before the reports.
Former Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke then said the “number one job of any union is to look after its members”.
“The reported behaviour for the construction division of the CFMEU is the exact opposite of that obligation,” Burke said last month.
“It’s abhorrent, it’s intolerable. There can be no place for criminality or corruption in any part of the construction industry.”
Laws giving the relevant minister powers to intervene and slap life bans on officials passed the parliament earlier this week after a deal was struck with the coalition.
Melbourne silk Mark Irving KC has been given the job of administering the CFMEU.
“I have determined a written scheme of administration and the General Manager of the Fair Work Commission has appointed Mr Mark Irving KC as the administrator and contacted Mr Irving to notify him of his appointment,” Dreyfus said in a statement.
The union has slammed the law as taking away the rights of members to a fair process and signalled an impending court challenge.
CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith has said the criminal allegations remain untested.
The administration period can last up to five years under the law and officials found guilty of crimes would be banned for life and unable to become bargaining agents at other registered organisations without holding a fit-and-proper-person certificate.
– AAP
