Police Taskforce & Royal Commission Needed to Uncover CFMEU Crimes

All current inquiries into the alleged criminality and corruption within the CFMEU will fail due to inadequate resourcing and lack of real will, Victorian silk Frank Parry KC warns. 

"To date, all Government, police and public sector responses to Nine's Building Bad investigation have been woefully inadequate. Despite all the work done by the fourth estate to uncover the truth, there are too many players here who have no interest in digging up the depths of alleged criminality and corruption within the building and construction industry," Mr Parry says. 

"The Victorian Government's response shows utter contempt for the state's criminal justice system. Its inquiry into the construction industry is nothing but a smokescreen and won't uncover anything substantial in the short time it will operate.  

"The Fair Work Commission doesn't have the powers or the resources to pursue the most serious allegations, and the Victorian police have yet to
implement a taskforce with enough means to tackle the union behemoth either. 

"And finally, sending in an administrator will practically achieve little.

"What we have is an industry that is wholly out of control. It is essentially stealing money out of the pockets of Australian families.

"If the KPIs for these steps are punishment for past misconduct and prevention of more, they will not be achieved.

"The only way forward is to set up a properly funded and staffed multi-jurisdictional police taskforce, a Royal Commission to allow evidence to be
tabled, and legislative change to ensure the Fair Work Commission and a properly restored ABCC have the resources and powers to act."

Frank Parry KC is the President of the H.R. Nicholls Society. He has been involved in some of Australia's most notorious industrial disputes, including the derecognition of the BLF in 1987, the Waterfront Dispute in 1998, and the long-running AWU "raids" investigation.