The links between the crime-ridden CFMEU and the popular pension fund Cbus, which has almost a million Australian members, are raising alarm bells in Canberra.
The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy union is battling allegations of corruption, criminal links, criminal office-holders and violence, but still has strong ties to Cbus and the Albanian government. billion social housing plans.
Cbus, which has 930,000 Australian members and $94 billion under management, has three board members with close ties to the CFMEU.
Senator Andrew Bragg said this in itself should be a cause for concern for members.
“We shouldn’t have a system where people’s retirement savings are used for political purposes, and certainly not for purposes such as supporting criminal behavior, bikies, organized crime. And that’s what I think is happening,” Senator Bragg said.
‘People’s hard-earned money is being used to finance mafia-like behavior.’
Of particular concern is the potential impact of the scandal on one of Cbus’ largest strategic investments: the Albanian government’s Housing Australia Future Fund, which plans to build 30,000 homes over five years to address the country’s housing shortage.
Cbus, with its strong influence within the CFMEU and led by former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan, has already committed $500 million of its members’ funds to invest in the HAFF.
However, the scandal has now led to calls for Cbus to be banned from HAFF altogether, putting the company’s investment strategy at risk.
“The Labor government in Canberra is trying to get the Cbus super fund to help them with the housing crisis,” Senator Bragg told Sydney 2GB radio host Chris O’Keefe on Tuesday.
‘The labor movement is making the situation on the housing market worse because with all their solutions they try to send more money to the vested interests in the unions instead of building more houses.
‘The organization has been excluded from the labor movement, but apparently they are still helping the government with housing. It stinks.’
Senator Bragg argued that Cbus was in a conflict of interest because it would charge higher construction fees for the construction of the social housing, which would cost taxpayers money and reduce members’ profits.
“These are the people who are trying to screw it up, they are the people who are making construction in Australia more expensive,” he said.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson also questioned why the CFMEU is allowed to interfere so heavily in the retirement savings of almost a million Australians.
“Why are foxes allowed to run the hen house?” Senator Hanson said in a statement Tuesday, describing the situation as a “racket” to enrich unions with “taxpayer-guaranteed revenues.”
The Australian construction union, which is in trouble, is also responsible for one of the country’s largest industrial super funds and its property development arm is a key player in Labor’s multi-billion dollar plans for social housing (pictured is former Victoria secretary John Setka)
Union leaders across Australia are now distancing themselves from the CFMEU after John Setka resigned as Victoria secretary amid rumours that bikers had been recruited as health and safety officers.
Employment and Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke announced on Wednesday that the CFMEU’s construction division would be placed under independent administration, but stopped short of pushing for the union to deregister.
This means that the Fair Work Commission will take over the CFMEU with government support.
“The most important job of any union and its leaders is to take care of its members,” Burke said.
‘The reported behaviour of the CFMEU construction department is the complete opposite of this. It is appalling and it is intolerable.’
The CFMEU last month secured a 21 percent pay increase over four years for its members in Victoria.
Rita Mallia, Mr Swan’s deputy, is chair of the New South Wales branch of the CFMEU.
The CFMEU is a major shareholder in Cbus, a pension fund with 930,000 members and $94 billion under management, and has key construction union members on its board
The Cbus board also includes prominent CFMEU members, including former national construction minister Dave Noonan (pictured) and the union’s former Australian Capital Territory boss Jason O’Mara, who has previously been accused of threatening to take businesses out of the city.
Cbus’ board also includes prominent CFMEU members, including former national construction minister Dave Noonan and former Australian Capital Territory union boss Jason O’Mara, who has previously been accused of threatening to take businesses out of the city.
In another twist, Cbus board member Denita Wawn, who is also CEO of Master Builders Australia, has called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman to investigate the CFMEU.
The employer representative on the Cbus board told Daily Mail Australia it was a weak response to put the CFMEU national office in charge of the Victoria branch.
“A self-organized internal investigation is not enough,” she said.
“We need fully-fledged ACCC and FWO investigations, alongside an interstate police force.”
The CFMEU’s Victoria branch is now in receivership and under the supervision of the national office, but its website promotes Cbus.
The super fund’s development arm, Cbus Property, has built 1 William Street in Brisbane, which now houses Queensland Government ministers.
Despite the Labor connections, the former Queensland government, the Liberal National Party led by Campbell Newman, awarded Cbus the $653 million tender in 2012, with the 260-metre tower opening in October 2016.
Cbus delivered strong returns for its members in 2023-24, with SuperRatings data showing that balanced option funds grew by 11.4 per cent, ahead of the industry average of 8.8 per cent.
When it was established in 1984, it was initially called the Building Unions Superannuation Scheme.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cbus and Mr Burke for comment on Senator Bragg’s claims.
