Ministers demand answers over Western Sydney Airport violence, intimidation claims

1 week ago 3

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King is demanding answers from the Western Sydney Airport Corporation about allegations of violence and intimidation on the site were raised by a key contractor, as Industrial Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth orders the Fair Work Commission to investigate.

King insisted at a press conference in Melbourne on Monday that placing the CFMEU into administration last year was “the strongest action we possibly could have taken” after more revelations of organised crime in the construction industry were reported by this masthead and 60 Minutes.

Western Sydney International Airport is involved in a construction sector scandal.

As state and federal authorities scrambled to get answers about the scale of criminal activity on big builds across Australia, union officials pointed to the revelations as proof that criminality was not just limited to unions, but also enabled by business interests.

Asked why serious crimes still plagued building sites more than a year after the federal government forced out the union’s national and state officials, King said the industry had a problem with an “endemic culture” of lawlessness but defended the current administration.

“We are working really hard as a government, through the administration, to ensure that we get criminal activity out … the industry also has a really significant role to play here,” she said.

This masthead and 60 Minutes on Sunday revealed that construction firm Future Form allegedly orchestrated a series of attacks, including firebombings and repeated threats, aimed at the family of a veteran union official investigating the firm over systemic worker mistreatment.

Federal Transport Minister Catherine King speaking to journalists at Melbourne Airport on Monday.

Future Form is suspected to have been involved in serious safety and employment breaches on the Western Sydney Airport site. The firm has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

King will write to the Western Sydney Airport Corporation to seek assurance the taxpayer-funded project was being appropriately managed, after CFMEU NSW executive officer Michael Crosby released a statement saying he was “confident that Future Form are guilty of engaging a significant number of sham contractors on the Western Sydney Airport site”.

“It’s really important that we have those assurances, particularly when we’re dealing with such large-scale taxpayer dollars as is projects like Western Sydney Airport,” King told journalists.

Rishworth said she had already spoken with the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission general manager about any potential breaches.

“I also intend to write to the AFP, referring any criminal allegations to them for investigation, and requesting that they work closely with the Fair Work Ombudsman,” she said.

Rishworth did not respond to a question from this masthead on the establishment of a national inquiry into criminality in the building industry, again backing in the union’s administration as the government’s “strongest possible action”.

Opposition industrial relations spokesperson Tim Wilson blamed the government for the out-of-control conduct, saying the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission after the 2022 election meant “the limited leash stopping corruption in the construction industry has been loosened.”

“There is no place for criminal, violent or intimidatory behaviour whether it is by unions, bikie gangs or corporates, when workplaces should be safe and harmonious,” he said.

Wilson said the Queensland CFMEU commission of inquiry launched by Premier David Crisafulli was a “courageous step” in the right direction, but stopped short of backing a national inquiry.

Suggesting the federal government would not want to be exposed by a national inquiry, Wilson added: “[Prime Minister] Anthony Albanese and [Industrial Relations Minister] Amanda Rishworth will run interference and be dragged kicking and screaming to do the same lest the dark underbelly of the union, corporate and Labor cartel see the light of day”.

Speaking to journalists on Monday morning, Crisafulli said: “The last thing I want to see is the seedy underbelly of the underworld coming into Queensland building sites and creating underperformance at a time when we need to build so much infrastructure.”

“As well as the fact that you’ve got women and children who feel unsafe, you’ve got a culture of bullying of misogyny, of intimidation, and it’s got to be called out, and the last thing we need is bikies running the show on building sites in Queensland.

“There’s no place in a modern Queensland for the CFMEU.”

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said it was “appalling and intolerable” that union officials were targeted in attacks “for doing their jobs standing up for workers”.

“It was always clear that a corruption-free union, which only affects a relatively small part of the construction industry, will not change the criminal and violent behaviours of some employers and organised crime who continue to operate in the industry,” she said.

“Good employers and the authorities need to also step up and take on these people. This is not acceptable or reasonable that it is left to unions, or that unions are the focus when there is a lack of action in the rest of the industry.”

with James Hall

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