The CFMEU is facing a fresh investigation into the potential misuse of members’ funds to interfere in another union’s election.
The Fair Work Commission said it would investigate the CFMEU’s Victorian construction division in a matter it said was separate to the allegations raised in the Building Bad investigation by this masthead, the Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes.
The commission will examine donations the branch made to a commercial company.Credit: Luis Ascui
In a statement posted to its website on Wednesday, the commission said the probe would examine donations of more than $180,000 the branch had made to a commercial company.
The commission said the payment was “reported to have been made to support a candidate from a different registered organisation in an uncontested election in 2022”.
The commission said it would now examine whether the payments were in line with the union’s objectives and whether any officers contravened civil provisions in the Fair Work Act.
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In the statement, the commission said it had sought “voluntarily assistance” from the CFMEU repeatedly in June over regulatory concerns about the “donation of significant branch funds for an uncontested election in a separate registered organisation but has not received any response”.
The investigation would also include donations in kind made by the branch in support of the candidate, it said.
Comment has been sought from the CFMEU.
More to come
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