‘Work with us’: CFMEU boss sounds off over Crisafulli comments

Queensland’s CFMEU boss has urged the state government to work collaboratively, labelling Premier David Crisafulli’s threats to end the union’s presence in the state “offensive and dangerous”.

At the weekend, this masthead revealed a major contractor had allegedly orchestrated a campaign of attacks on a NSW union organiser’s family to suppress a scandal – allegations denied by the firm.

Amid this and other concerning behaviour in the construction industry, Crisafulli has ramped up his rhetoric about squashing the union, forgoing his previous qualifications around potential reform.

“There’s no place in a modern Queensland for the CFMEU,” he told journalists on Monday – repeating a line used on Sunday’s 60 Minutes program – as the state’s powerful inquiry into the union prepared to announce its opening hearing.

“David Crisafulli’s comments last night about abolishing the CFMEU were unhelpful, offensive and dangerous,” recently installed state CFMEU boss Jared Abbot said in a video posted by the union’s official social media account.

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“What David Crisafulli doesn’t seem to understand is that the CFMEU is made up of tens of thousands of Queenslanders … and every worker has a right to join a union. That’s a right protected not only by Australian law, but international law.

“If the LNP are really genuine about trying to clean up this industry, work with us, not against us.”

The government has not detailed how it would abolish the union, having previously ruled out deregistration, which would only drive it out of reach of state regulation.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie announced the government’s inquiry in July after a report into violence in the union’s state branch was said to have just scratched the surface.

The almost $20 million probe will use its broad powers to protect and compel witnesses over a timeframe initially expected to be 12 months – with the potential for extension, the use of public and private hearings and interim reports.

Bleijie has conceded an “obsession” with the union, and described the inquiry as also being aimed at “enablers” in the former Labor state government.

His “captain’s pick” selection of Melbourne-based conservative barrister Stuart Wood AM KC, a former Victorian Liberal Party member who donated $1500 to the LNP in 2023, sparked questions about impartiality from the labour movement.

With James Hall

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