Opposition demands sacking of CFMEU administrator, government says call ‘ridiculous’
Updated ,first published
Former works minister Murray Watt said it would be “absurd” to sack the official appointed by the Albanian government to run the CFMEU; because he rejected the opposition’s call to sack Mark Irving KC over his omission of sections critical of Labor from a report into union corruption.
This imprint revealed Wednesday that Irving removed portions of a landmark report on union corruption. The report found union corruption cost Victoria’s Big Build infrastructure program a $15 billion cost increase and that the Victorian Labor government ignored CFMEU corruption and organized crime links on infrastructure projects.
Irving was appointed by the Albanian government to lead the CFMEU in August 2024 after that imprint revealed widespread fraud and corruption in the union involving bikies, organized crime and intimidation.
Previously, the union appointed barrister Geoffrey Watson SC in July 2024 to investigate the allegations.
Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tim Wilson on Wednesday morning demanded the Watson report be made public, called for Irving to be sacked and accused the government of trying to cover up the matter.
“The manager must resign, and if he doesn’t the minister must sack him,” Wilson said. “They are constantly closing question period, closing investigations and closing questions that go to the heart of the CFMEU identifying and heart-breaking Labour’s corruption cartel.”
The report, completed in December 2024, was requested by the Queensland Commission of Inquiry to the union and Irving sent a version that removed sections containing findings that the Victorian Labor government turned a blind eye to CFMEU corruption.
Irving said he deleted portions of the report because he could not confirm the accuracy of some information.
Works Minister Amanda Rishworth told parliament on Wednesday that she retained Irving’s full support and that the opposition was wrong to call for the sacking of an influential executive.
“Not a single bad actor named in this Watson report still works for the CFMEU and they have all been suspended by the executive,” Rishworth said. he said.
Under Irving’s administration, the CFMEU dismissed dozens of officials and uncovered several serious cases of corruption.
Watson appeared at the Queensland inquiry on Wednesday, where he also rejected opposition calls to sack Irving and said the government “would be crazy” to sack Irving.
“I may have said some harsh things here today, but in my opinion… I have never met a more honest and decent man.”
Watson’s report said a 15 per cent cost was a conservative estimate of the impact of corruption on the public purse, equating to a $15 billion tax on Victorian taxpayers.
“When $15 billion of taxpayers’ money flows through a system and some of it ends up in Labor’s pockets, there’s something much deeper and much more important going on to rebuild public trust,” Watson said.
Environment Minister Watt, the previous works minister who represented Rishworth at the Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday morning, said it was “ridiculous” that the opposition had called for Irving to be sacked.
He said it was Irving, not the government, that was responsible for deciding which parts of the report to release.
“[Irving] It decided that there were aspects of the report that were not well-founded. It’s his call on what to release,” Watt said.
Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic handed over an edited version of Irving’s Watson report to the Queensland government, saying there was an “industrial cover-up” of corruption.
“We need the answers today because this has essentially created a criminal cartel tax on Australia’s housing sector. Australians are paying more for construction every day and young Australians are paying more for their first homes because of this cover-up and this behavior.”
Kovacic asked government officials during the senate estimates hearing whether sections redacted from the report contained information about Victorian MPs.
Greg Manning, assistant secretary of the workplace relations department, said his department received an abbreviated version of the report on Jan. 27 and saw the material that has since been removed.
“There were sections that went into estimates of the cost of corruption in the construction industry and information about corruption in the construction industry.”
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Mike Foley is the climate and energy correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
