3 months ago
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The CFMEU funnelled more than $329,000 in members’ money to help re-elect Diana Asmar, the former boss of the Health Workers Union accused of rorting union funds, the Fair Work Commission has revealed.
In a statement on Tuesday, the commission revealed it had concluded an investigation into $329,294.90 in CFMEU members’ funds donated to HWU secretary Asmar in 2022 and whether those donations were authorised by the branch. She was ultimately elected unopposed.
Former CFMEU boss John Setka.Credit: Michael Quelch
The commission said it was likely that former senior officers of the CFMEU’s construction division had knowingly and deliberately taken steps to conceal the extent of the donations from the union’s governing body, the branch committee of management, and ultimately from members.
Former state secretary John Setka led the union at the time.
The commission also found these officers had inaccurately recorded these donations in the branch’s financial records and, in doing so, broke multiple rules related to disclosing donations and proper record keeping.
It comes after this masthead revealed CFMEU administrator Mark Irving was fighting a brazen move by former CFMEU bosses Setka and Ralph Edwards to seize control of a $1 million election slush fund.
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Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong said under the law, funds held by the union belonged to members and should be used with care and for a proper purpose.
“Those former officers should explain to the Branch’s members why it was in their interests to spend over $300,000 of their money, and some of it in secret, to fund Diana Asmar’s election campaign,” he said.
Furlong is considering whether to take further action, including civil actions against the CFMEU officers involved.
He has issued a notice to the administrator of the CFMEU requesting the union take steps to fix its failures in reporting and financial management.
The commission also found that one payment, worth $34,100, was made to a company that is the subject of a separate investigation involving Asmar.
The commission has taken civil action against Asmar, alleging that a printing business connected to her received $2.7 million in HWU member funds for no service, with the money instead going into private accounts, and that more than $120,000 in reimbursements was claimed without evidence of relevant business expenses.
The Age first revealed in August 2024 that a multi-agency investigation was examining millions in “ghost payments” made by the CFMEU and HWU to a printing business.
At the time it was reported investigators were looking at $180,000 in CFMEU donations as part of the probe, and whether they went towards Asmar’s union election campaign.
The commission’s statement on Tuesday reveals a higher figure, with $329,000 in donations tracked.
Asmar and Setka have been contacted for comment.
Setka resigned from his role as state secretary following the Building Bad investigation into widespread corruption in the construction industry by this masthead, 60 Minutes and The Australian Financial Review.
Asmar stood down from her role in May 2025 after reaching an agreement with the national organisation that controls her branch to put the HWU into administration.
The commission’s proceedings into allegations of ghost payments are ongoing.
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