Författare: Michelle Grattan Professorial Fellow University of Canberra

The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum.

Joining us on the Podcast is one of those teals, Zoe Daniel, member for the Melbourne seat of Goldstein. Daniel, previously a veteran reporter and foreign correspondent for the ABC, discusses some current hot-button issues, including the government’s plan for extensive reform of electoral donations and spending, which has some of the independents worried.

Daniel supports change but warns of risk:

I think there’s a strong case for getting big money out of politics, […] But I think that the danger is that it ends up, either deliberately or as an unintended consequence, preventing new players from getting into politics.

We know that roughly a third of Australians are currently not voting for major parties, that the two parties – the Coles and Woollies, the duopoly of politics – may collude, to create an unlevel playing field to protect themselves and to prevent others from entering the frame.

The conduct in the CFMEU has been in the spotlight after an expose by Nine of corruption and standover tactics. Federal and state governments have reacted strongly but Daniel is concerned about their commitment:

I think where my lack of confidence is, is in whether their intent is there. I think there’s a question around wanting to be seen to do something and actually doing something.

Victorians were just shaking their heads at the news that came out about the CFMEU because there has been smoke around this issue for so long. And we look at big construction projects in Victoria and it’s very self-evident that the costs are inflated, and that the CFMEU has been pulling the strings there.

If they’re going to embark on this with now such a microscope on it, they have to make sure that they actually clean out that behaviour. […] They cannot let this go this time without completing the job.

Daniel’s electorate has one of the highest Jewish populations in the country. She says:

It’s been an incredibly challenging time for Jewish people, across the world, but also specifically in my electorate since October 7th. The vast majority of the Jewish people in Melbourne are either Holocaust survivors or direct descendants of Holocaust survivors. There is absolute intergenerational trauma.

The thing that I’ve been trying to do is to separate what’s happening in Israel and Gaza, which Australia as a country can have influence on through its international partners, but to separate that from what’s going on in our community.

So to pressure the government initially to get flights into Israel, to get people evacuated, to then fast track security grants for synagogues and schools, to then address the doxing of Jewish creatives, which the government has done, to appoint an anti-Semitism envoy which the government has done.

Finally, as a former ABC foreign correspondent in the United States, Daniel observes of of Kamala Harris’ prospects,

I think no matter who they put in at this late stage, it was going to be extremely difficult to beat Donald Trump from a kind of standing start.

I must say that my instinct has been, has always been, that she wouldn’t be able to beat Trump. But I note that there’s a lot of momentum behind her and sometimes circumstances pan out differently to the way that you might expect. So maybe she’s got a shot at it. Läs mer…

After Thursday’s announcement that cabinet ministers Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor were stepping down from the frontbench, all public attention came on to the reshuffle to be unveiled on Sunday.

Behind the scenes, however, something else is preoccupying the government. Ahead of the June quarter inflation figure out on Wednesday, the collective holding of breath is palpable. That number, and its consequences, could affect the government’s political fortunes for months.

The markets expect inflation to increase from the previous quarter’s 3.6% annual figure. If that happens, days of debilitating public speculation will follow, about whether the Reserve Bank at its August 5–6 meeting will raise interest rates or decide, in light of an economy that’s crawling along the ground, to hold them steady.

Australia’s inflation rate has come down from 7.8% in the December quarter of 2022 to the March quarter’s 3.6%. But a turn upwards, even relatively small, would get people worried.

Who’d want the job of bank governor Michele Bullock right now? If rates were hiked in August, Bullock would take a heap of flak. But, unlike the government, she doesn’t face an election. Critics, especially the opposition, would accuse the government of fuelling inflation with its budget cost-of-living measures, although Treasury has estimated they reduce inflation.

The Westpac forecast for the June quarter is an annual rate of 3.8%. Inflation is being fed by rises in petrol prices, insurance and rents.

This week the markets’ expectation of an August rate rise is still relatively low. So for the government, there is an encouraging chance of dodging the bullet – and the ire of home buyers.

On the other hand, the bank has made it clear it won’t be deterred in its fight against inflation. Bullock said after the board’s June meeting: “We need a lot to go our way if we are going to bring inflation back down to the 2–3% target range. The board does need to be confident that inflation is moving sustainably toward target and it will do what is necessary to achieve that outcome.”

The government points out that as inflation falls, it doesn’t necessarily come down in a straight line. However, its earlier expectation (or hope) that by the end of this year inflation could be within the bank’s target range must be in doubt, although Treasurer Jim Chalmers wouldn’t concede that.

An August rate rise would be a heavy blow for the government, but even if that is avoided, the crucial rate fall it is looking for is a long time away. And how much political advantage an eventual single rate decrease would bring is likely limited, after home buyers have faced more than a dozen increases.

The latest Freshwater Strategy poll, published this week in the Australian Financial Review, shows voters in a funk of pessimism, which will take a lot of turning around.

More than half (56%) think the country is headed in the wrong direction;
fewer than three in ten (29%) believe it is going the right way. Some 50% say the economy will have worsened a year from now; just over one in five (21%) believe it will have improved.

Meanwhile Sunday’s reshuffle will aim at removing barnacles as well as giving an opportunity for a refresh of the team.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is expected to be moved, in an effort to neutralise what has been a fraught issue for Labor.

Giles, a Victorian left winger who was a solicitor for asylum seekers and reacted emotionally to Labor’s 2015 embrace of turning back boats, was always likely to strike trouble in this post. Then the High Court decision forcing the release of a batch of immigration detainees put him into a spotlight that often had him looking near frozen.

There has been speculation his senior minister, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, may also be shifted. O’Neil’s performance has been lacklustre. Anyway her behemoth department is too large and unwieldy, ranging from cyber security to border control. Administratively, it performs poorly.

What Albanese should do is break up Home Affairs, and elevate the immigration minister into cabinet. But that would be radical.

The obvious replacement for Burney is Malarndirri McCarthy, assistant minister in the Indigenous portfolio, who was formerly a member of the Northern Territory parliament. It would be a big step up for her, in an area where Labor appears to have lost its way since last year’s failed Voice referendum.

It’s hard to avoid the conclusion the government in recent months hasn’t wanted Indigenous affairs policy to the fore, especially in the run up to the August Northern Territory election. Or perhaps it simply hasn’t been able to work up a plan. The referendum left the government dispirited and with a vacuum, and Burney exhausted.

A changing of the ministerial guard does (or should) provide an opportunity to draw a line under the referendum debacle, and embark on a policy refresh.

Late next week Albanese will attend the Garma festival in northeast Arnhem Land. Garma is far more than a cultural gathering. It is an occasion that brings together Indigenous leaders, as well as politicians and others with a stake in or connection to Indigenous affairs.

One attendee this year will be Danielle Wood, the head of the Productivity Commission, which next week will release its latest update on the Closing the Gap results. It doesn’t take that report to tell us that on many fronts, the gap is yawning.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy is one of the Productivity Commission’s new policy areas of focus; it will be consulting on a research plan in coming months.

The commission is not the only specialist economic player working in Indigenous affairs. The Treasury also has a unit devoted to this policy area. Chalmers himself is taking an increasing interest.

The involvement of economic departments and agencies is vitally important to achieving progress, for a couple of reasons. One is that the bureaucracy supporting Indigenous policy hasn’t been nearly as strong as required. Another is that if communities could be given a lot more economic sustainability, that could help alleviate (albeit not solve) some of the social problems.

As things stand, if he disappeared off the scene today, Albanese would have only a failed legacy in Indigenous affairs. He needs to use the months ahead and (assuming) a second term to turn that into some substantial positive achievements. We know from history it won’t be easy. Läs mer…

Cabinet ministers Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor are standing down from the frontbench, opening vacancies for Anthony Albanese to reshuffle his ministry.

Burney, 67, Minister for Indigenous Australians, and O’Connor, 62, both told Albanese they will not contest the next election. They will serve out their terms on the backbench.

This is the first reshuffle Albanese has had. The prime minister told a news conference on Thursday the ministers stepping down would enable a “refresh” of the ministry.

Immigration minister Andrew Giles, a left-wing factional ally of the PM, is considered certain to be moved to another job. He has struggled to deal with issues in his area, especially the fallout from a High Court decision that forced the release of long-term detainees, many of whom had committed serious offences, and some of whom were charged with new crimes.

Some advocates argue that immigration should be elevated to cabinet, given its importance and political sensitivity.

His senior minister, Clare O’Neil, who holds the Home Affairs portfolio, may also be shifted. There has been speculation that Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, a strong performer, could be put into home affairs.

Albanese will announce the reshuffle on Sunday. Although it is a total formality, nominations will be called from caucus for the vacant spots in the ministry. Under Labor rules, caucus in theory chooses members of the ministry – in practice, the factions and the leader do so. The leader allocates portfolios.

Burney was the government’s frontrunner in last year’s unsuccessful Voice referendum.

Favourite to take Burney’s portfolio is her assistant minister, senator Malarndirri McCarthy, a Yanyuwa woman who previously served in the Northern Territory parliament.  

Burney was elected to the New South Wales parliament in 2003, the first Aboriginal person to serve in that parliament. She held several state portfolios.

In 2016, she won the federal seat of Barton, becoming the first Aboriginal woman in the House of Representatives.

In opposition, she held various shadow portfolios, becoming shadow minister for Indigenous Australians in 2019. She followed the Coalition’s Ken Wyatt, also Indigenous, as the minister for Indigenous Australians after Labor’s win in 2022.

The announcement she would not run for another parliamentary term was not unexpected, although last month she said she expected to be in her portfolio after the election. During this term she has suffered poor health.

O’Connor, who holds the Melbourne seat of Gorton, is a veteran of two Labor governments.

In the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government he served in the portfolios of employment, immigration and citizenship, small business, housing, human services, home affairs, and employment participation. Läs mer…

The 2024 US election took another dramatic turn when President Joe Biden withdrew his re-election bid, endorsing his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to take his place.

The quick switch from Biden to Harris has reinvigorated the Democratic Party and their donors behind a younger candidate. It has thrown up a new challenge for Donald Trump who, however, is still election favorite. It’ll be up to Harris to define her campaign before Trump is able to define her.

To discuss the fast-changing play, we’re joined by Lester Munson, a fellow with the United States Studies Centre.

Munson is a long-time Washington insider, having worked with George W. Bush’s administration, been chief of staff for a Republican senator, and serving as Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He now works at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm in Washington, DC, and he joined from there on the podcast.

On Kamala Harris having locked in the nomination, set to be ratified at the Democratic convention next month:

There’s no real opposition to her candidacy at this point. She has earned the endorsement of scores of senior Democratic officials if not hundreds. She has raised a significant amount of money and appears to be really dominating the political landscape for Democrats right now. It seems like she’s going to become the nominee by acclamation and with almost unanimous support behind her.

On what kind of candidate Harris might be:

She’s certainly younger than the previous Democratic candidate. She’s substantially younger than Donald Trump. She’s a fresher face. She has a different way of conducting herself in public. That is a radical departure from both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

And as a Republican, I will just tell you, I think she’s a relatively attractive persona in that she’s got some charisma, she’s got some magnetism, she can light up a room, there’s no doubt about it. And I think people are going to give her a chance to earn their vote. Whether she’s able to do that is a separate question.

Some people have said the failed assassination attempt has changed Trump and Munson agrees:

I think he is changed. […] If you just watch the acceptance speech at the [Republican] convention, you can see like kind of a different look on his face. He seems more at peace with the universe, he seems grateful to be alive. I think that seems genuine to me.

In the event of a second Trump term, Munson gives his advice on what Anthony Albanese should do,

My advice to the Prime Minister would be, work on the relationship part, work on your personal face-to-face time with President Trump. Find the things that he cares about and find a way to deliver some sort of win for him, if that’s useful to you.

If he comes back into office, he’s not going to rely on international law or written agreements or treaties or trade deals. He is going to make decisions based on looking someone in the eye, their body language, the way they shake hands, how attractive they are on TV, how tall they are – very superficial things, but you know that going in, so use that to your advantage and be in the right place at the right time to try to get the the result you want out of the relationship. Läs mer…

Former leading Canberra press gallery journalist, Laurie Oakes, now retired, had a cut-through question about the government’s response this week to the CFMEU crisis.

“Bill Shorten tough and effective on CFMEU,” Oakes posted on social media after Shorten’s appearance on the ABC’s 7.30. “Why wasn’t it Albo taking the lead?”

The prime minister could point out he was in Queensland, campaigning, and unveiling candidates for the election. Regardless, Oakes’ question was spot on.

The PM wouldn’t have missed the sharp comparison with Shorten, the former Labor leader, who is always closely watched by the Albanese camp.

Albanese has answered questions about the CFMEU scandal all week. But despite the magnitude of the issue, he has left the public front-running to Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke.

The government needed to cauterise the imbroglio as fast as possible. Hence the huge flurry of activity, centred on having the Fair Work Commission get underway the appointment of an administrator into the construction division in eastern Australia.

On Thursday the ALP’s national executive suspended the affiliation of the construction division to the NSW, Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian branches of the Labor Party. This means the party won’t levy any affiliation fees or accept donations. Delegates won’t be able to attend ALP conferences.

(The construction division is almost all that is left of the union. The miners have left and the manufacturing division is on the way out. The only other division is the Maritime Union of Australia and no action has been taken against it.)

The desire to put the CFMEU issue behind it may have driven the government’s choice to have the Fair Work Commission apply to appoint the administrators, rather than doing so itself.

“What I’m wanting to do is make sure this is a process under the regulator and not a political process,” Burke said at his Wednesday news conference.

Burke has promised the government will play an active supportive role to the Fair Work Commission, even legislating if that becomes necessary. Still, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion the government’s aim is to keep the follow-through at a distance, especially in the run-up to the election. That’s likely to mean fewer media questions.

When he was workplace relations minister in the Gillard government, Shorten took a different course with the Health Services Union.

The HSU was even more scandal-ridden than the construction division of the CFMEU. In dealing with it, the government acted directly, itself applying to put in an administrator.

Shorten has a special interest in the CFMEU. The Australian Workers’ Union, which he formerly headed, has had years of conflict and competition with the CFMEU. Shorten retains his interest in industrial relations more broadly. Nevertheless it was notable to see him turn up in the high-profile 7.30 interview on the day of Burke’s announcement (albeit with approval from the PM’s Office).

Former leaders are always in a somewhat ambiguous position, given the levels of paranoia that characterisepolitical parties. Shorten mostly stays within his ministerial guardrails, but inside those he determines his own tactics.

At the moment, as Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, he is pulling out all stops to try to get his legislation to reform the scheme through parliament. Recently this included holding a news conference with Pauline Hanson.

Shorten won’t have another chance at leadership, but he has a legacy to protect and advance. The NDIS grew out of his idea. It’s important to the government generally that the reforms are put on track before the election. It’s actually also in the Liberals’ long-term interests – it would be harder for a future Coalition government to rein in this scheme, which has run out of control.

Returning to the CFMEU, the week-long revelations have meant Labor has again found its post-July 1 “good news” on the cost of living totally overshadowed by domestic stories that are negative for it (never mind the drama in the United States). The first distraction, as the tax cuts were landing, was the resignation of Labor senator Fatima Payman from the party and speculation about whether a “Muslim vote” could harm Labor in western Sydney. Then came the union stories.

Labor will hope its quick response on the CFMEU issue will mean that in voterland it washes over fairly quickly.

Many people, one would expect, will be highly cynical about the reaction of political and union leaders who declare the revelations about criminality have come as “a shock”. While the extent and details may have been, the atrocious conduct of the construction union has been common knowledge.

The public would likely think the politicians protest too much. People’s general scepticism about their representatives was again highlighted by this week’s Essential poll that found three quarters of Australians think politicians enter into politics to serve their own interests.

It will take years to know whether industrial conduct in the construction industry can really be reformed. The deregistration of the Builders Labourers Federation in the 1980s failed to do the job.

The CFMEU’s Queensland/Northern Territory secretary, Michael Ravbar, a one-time member of the ALP national executive, flagged in a defiant statement that change will be fought by some. “Albanese has panicked and soiled himself over some unproven allegations in the media,” he said. “These gutless Labor politicians talk tough about affiliation fees and donations because that’s the only language they understand – money. The CFMEU is an industrial union, not a political outfit. Our strength has always come from our members on the shop floor, not from ladder-climbing politicians in the halls of power.”

After the ACTU suspended the construction division on Wednesday, ACTU staff were told to work from home as “a health and safety” measure. The CFMEU generates a level of fear in all sorts of places.

No doubt the administrators will clean out the union. But you’d be an optimist to feel confident that one collection of bad applies won’t eventually be replaced by another. Finding a way to stop the tree being blighted by yet more rotten fruit may be beyond any administrator. At the very least, it will require more rigorous regular spraying and pruning than we’ve seen in the past, Läs mer…

American politics has become weekly high drama.

Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt last weekend. Now Joe Biden has COVID, and is under ever-increasing pressure to stand aside as the Democratic candidate for November’s presidential election.

We’re joined on the podcast by former Australian Ambassador to Washington, Joe Hockey, who’s at this week’s Republican convention.

Summing up the convention’s mood, Hockey says:

Frankly, there’s an energy that I wasn’t expecting after last Saturday’s attempted assassination […] People are positive. They’re not aggressive, they’re just positive and they’re very energised.

The “enormous support” for Trump has been a marked contrast from the divisions Hockey witnessed at the 2016 Republican convention. Yet Hockey agrees the former US president seems unusually subdued this week.

People I’ve spoken with, who have spoken to him, say it is a different Donald Trump. He’s obviously had a near-death experience, and his hand has dampened a lot of the usual aggression that pervades Democrat and Republican conventions. So, I think there’s no doubt he’s been significantly affected by the attempted assassination.

Biden’s most likely replacement

On the calls for Biden to step aside as candidate, Hockey says that up until now, he thought the president would fight on and stay. But the Biden office’s push over the past 48 hours to speed up the confirmation process has backfired.

All that’s done is just hastened the demand of Democrat leaders to have Joe Biden step down. Now, how [do] they do it? It’s uncharted territory. Clearly in Australia, we know – with unfortunate regularity – how to bring down the leaders of our own parties. In America, they just don’t do it.

Biden’s COVID diagnosis, coupled with his declining performances, means it’s now looking more like the president will have to go.

I saw two interviews that he did where it’s just, it’s depressing. I think it’s really interesting that no one here is celebrating or dancing on Joe Biden’s ill-health. I mean, no one’s mentioning it. No one’s even talking about it because we’ve all had parents, grandparents, that have gone through this cognitive decline.

Who’s mostly like to replace Biden? Hockey says he would be “dumbfounded” if Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t step up – particularly because, as of today, she’s already out-polling Biden against Trump.

What it means for Australia

On Australia’s relationship with a possible second Trump term, Hockey lays out what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should do on his first phone call.

Albanese should give him something in that call to show that we are serious. It could be the next down-payment on the submarines – to bring it forward. It could be something else. But Donald Trump is a person of action.

I think it’ll be important to remind him that we have already given a cheque for $3 billion to the US for Virginia subs, and we’re doing our heavy lifting. And look […] the starting point for Donald Trump is Australia is a great country and a great friend.

A divided America affects the world

On the trajectory of what is happening in the United States, Hockey says:

I think there’ll be plenty to worry about. I mean, America still, in my mind, represents the biggest sovereign risk to companies that are operating outside of Australia. And that’s because there is so much uncertainty in America, I mean, the key thing […] we’ve all got to understand is that in America, the political divide is chiselled on policy. There is a policy divide between the Republicans and the Democrats.

There are deep divisions from taxation, where there’s different tax rates between Trump and Biden, through to regulation and of course, climate change is a big one. […] So there are big, deep divisions between the parties, which is why the parties are so fired up about the election. Läs mer…

The Fair Work Commission’s general manager, Murray Furlong, is moving to appoint administrators into the construction division of the CFMEU, following a string of allegations of nefarious behaviour.

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke announced on Wednesday that Furlong was seeking legal advice on applying to the federal court to do so, and the government would “intervene to ensure the proceedings are successful”.

If the proceedings were challenged and unresolved when parliament resumes on August 12, the government would bring in legislation to enable the commission “to put any part of the construction division of the CFMEU into administration,” Burke said.

“The government will ensure the regulator has all the powers it needs to appoint administrators.”

The general manager of the Fair Work Commission is the independent statutory regulator of federally registered organisations.

Burke has also asked the Fair Work Ombudsman to do a “targeted review” of all enterprise agreements the Victorian branch of the CFMEU’s construction division had made applying to the state’s “Big Build” projects.

Burke said the government was seeking information on coercive behaviour. It did not intend any action that would put at risk workers’ employment conditions. “This is not their fault,” he said.

He said the government would use its procurement powers to ensure enterprise agreements on government-funded projects were genuine – free of coercion and intimidation.

He has also asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate allegations, working with state police.

The allegations, revealed in Nine media, include thuggery, kickbacks, standover tactics, and the parachuting of senior bikie figures into lucrative union delegate roles on major Victorian construction projects.

Notably, the Albanese government has decided not to appoint administrators itself.

“What I’m wanting to do is make sure this is a process under the regulator and not a political process,” Burke said.

The government’s response is in contrast to the Gillard government’s action in 2012 when then-Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten directly intervened against the scandal-ridden Health Services Union to have an administrator, former judge Michael Moore, brought in.

Under criticism for not having acted earlier against the rogue construction division, Burke argued the allegations that organised crime had infiltrated the union was new information.

He said this was something “I had not been previously briefed on”.

Pressed on whether he had never heard of the allegations he said, “Not in terms of organised crime, no. The organised crime issue – it was published as an exclusive [in Nine’s reports]. That was because this was new information.”

Furlong said in a statement he was “deeply concerned about the alleged conduct and commentary that organised crime has infiltrated several state branches of the Division, including that it appears to be embedded and ongoing.”

As well as seeking advice on the application to the federal court, “I have also commenced sharing information with other regulatory and law enforcement authorities and requesting evidence about alleged contraventions from a wide variety of participants in the building and construction industry.

”While the alleged criminal conduct reported in the media falls outside of my jurisdiction, alleged conduct involving repeated, opportunistic or deliberate contraventions of the RO (Registered Organisations) Act, including misappropriation of funds or unlawful conduct of elected officials, will be met by swift, well-resourced and significant enforcement action.” Läs mer…

The Albanese government is expected to appoint independent administrators to clean up the CFMEU.

On Tuesday the defiant union was trying to fend off government action to deal with sweeping allegations of widespread misconduct that have been revealed by Nine media.

CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith declared, “External administration and further interference of the government isn’t necessary”.

“The union and the union movement is more than capable of dealing with allegations in our own ranks, in responding appropriately,” Smith told the ABC.

The government is under pressure to act as soon as possible against the union, as is the Labor Party nationally.

The party’s national executive will meet on Thursday to deal with requests from the Victorian and South Australian premiers and the Tasmanian Labor leader to suspend the CFMEU’s affiliations in those states.

The meeting will also discuss suspending the acceptance of political donations from the union. This has already happened in Victoria.

Smith has put the Victorian branch of the union in administration. He said as part of this “I’m in the process of standing up an investigative process” to test allegations.

“Obviously if there is any wrongdoing found, people will be removed from our ranks.” He would bring in “external eminent legal minds to help manage the investigation process, to conduct the investigation, and to make any recommendations necessary”.

But the government has made it clear the union’s internal action is not enough.

Smith also defended the former secretary of the Victorian and Tasmanian branch of the CFMEU, John Setka, who resigned suddenly on Friday, as Nine papers were set to begin publishing stories containing detailed allegations, as well as damning footage of incidents.

The allegations include thuggery, kickbacks, standover tactics, and the parachuting of senior bikie figures into lucrative union delegate roles on major Victorian construction projects.

Smith said Setka had decided to resign because he thought that was in the best interests of the union and its members.

“I think that speaks to his integrity and his credibility,” Smith said.

“One thing that no one will be able to take away from John is his legacy as an industrial leader – the conditions that he’s won for workers here in Victoria and the strength that he’s built in the Victorian-Tasmanian branch.”

Nine reported on Tuesday that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and then Victorian infrastructure minister (now premier) Jacinta Allan were sent “detailed evidence in 2022 that CFMEU officials were threatening extreme violence and unlawfully black-banning non-union-preferred companies from state and federally funded projects”.

A federal government spokesman said the email to Albanese had been sent “to an inactive email address”.

Cabinet Minister Bill Shorten, a former workplace relations minister, made it clear on Monday strong action was imperative. He said in an ABC interview: “The investigations and some of the footage and the stories which we’ve seen in very recent days show that there is a pathology of engagement by some in the construction sector with criminals and bikies. That has to stop. They have no home in the Australian trade union movement.” Shorten’s old union, the AWU, has often been at loggerheads with the CFMEU.

Albanese said on Monday, “Everything is on the table, including whether the union continues to be able to operate, whether administrators will be placed into the union. […] All of that is completely on the table.” Läs mer…

Listening to the politicians and union leaders, one could be forgiven for thinking Nine’s Nick McKenzie and his journalist colleagues were the only ones aware of the nefarious activities in the CFMEU.

Amid the revelations from Nine’s investigation, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke told the ABC on Sunday “all options” for action were on the table, and he had asked for departmental advice.

By Monday morning the union’s national secretary Zach Smith had put the Victorian branch into administration.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan whipped off a request for Labor’s national executive to suspend the CFMEU’s construction division from the Victorian Labor Party. She also asked Victorian Labor “to immediately pause political donations from the CFMEU”.

Anthony Albanese declared “zero tolerance” for the union’s bad behaviour. ACTU secretary Sally McManus said there was “no place whatsoever” for criminal activities in unions: the ACTU executive will meet on Wednesday to discuss matters.

The allegations made in the Nine reports include thuggery, standover tactics, the parachuting of senior bikie figures into lucrative union delegate roles on major Victorian construction projects, kickbacks, and much else.

The series is a remarkable expose. But it is hard to credit that senior players, including the minister, his department, the national office of the union, and federal authorities were not able to find out what was happening without the assistance of McKenzie and co.

Surely, some of them would have had their ears to the ground. If they didn’t, it can only be put down to incompetence or that they didn’t seriously seek to hear (despite all those visits to construction sites in hi-vis).

After he became opposition leader, Anthony Albanese drove the union’s strong man, John Setka, out of the Labor Party, following his disparaging the work of Rosie Batty, a campaigner against domestic violence. But the union movement could not dislodge him. McManus urged him to quit his union post for the good of the movement, to no effect.

In 2020 the union’s national secretary Michael O’Connor (one of the union’s good guys and brother of federal minister Brendan O’Connor) quit his post after prolonged pressure from Setka’s construction division. His apparent sin was not defending Setka following his conviction for harassing his wife.

It was only last Friday, facing the Nine expose, that Setka (who had been due to leave his position later this year) suddenly resigned as Victorian and Tasmanian secretary of the union.

Labor in government has twice bowed to what the CFMEU – and the wider union movement – wanted: the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the so-called cop-on-the-beat.

The Gillard government got rid of the ABCC. The Coalition restored it. Tony Burke scrapped it again. Burke was so anxious to act that he defanged the body ahead of having the legislation passed.

Burke said on Sunday the allegations reported in the Nine expose (to that point) related to when the ABCC was in operation.

“It completely failed, for the simple reason that the whole concept of it was wrong from the beginning, which was about pushing people into their corners,” Burke said.

“That’s what it was about, and that meant that you would always in those situations empower the most militant players. That’s what happens when you push people into their corners.”

This sounded like a stretch. But accepting the ABCC was ineffective, the latest revelations suggest it should have been beefed up, not scrapped.

The government recently rushed through parliament legislation to allow the manufacturing part of the CFMFU to split off.

Nine reported this followed a long campaign by CFMEU’s assistant national secretary Leo Skourdoumbis. For his trouble Skourdoumbis received what Nine described as “a menacing nighttime visit” by Setka to the family home”, where he dumped a suitcase with the words “LEO THE DOG” scrawled on it. The incident was captured by a neighbour’s CCTV.

A few years ago the Morrison government legislated to allow the mining and energy division to leave the union.

Its members were anxious to take the exit path. A resolution said: “The ruthless use of raw numbers against the smaller divisions; the disrespect and disregard shown to the views of mining and energy workers; and the public undermining of our former national secretary [Michael O’Connor] to settle a personal score, is simply intolerable.

”It is clear that there is no longer a place of equality and dignity for the mining and energy division within the amalgamated union.”

What the union and the government – that was expected to discuss the situation at Monday’s cabinet meeting – do now must be judged in terms of actions, not fighting or reassuring words.

Burke might be right in noting deregistration could be counterproductive, just reducing the regulation of the union rather than enhancing it.

The union, pledging to change its ways, will want to be left, to the greatest extent possible, to reform itself. Zach Smith is one of the up-and-comers of the union movement, with a lot to prove.

But after all that’s gone before, the union can’t be trusted to clean out its Augean stables. Burke must recognise this – he said on Monday the union’s response so far was “progress, but falls short”.

The government needs to use its powers to impose independent administrators or some other process.

Labor also should show its seriousness by putting a moratorium on political donations from the union (whose construction division donated $1 million to the federal party for the last election). When asked about this on Monday, the prime minister dodged the questions. He said such matters were for the party organisation.

Labor’s national executive will meet this week, to discuss the Allan request and, no doubt, the question of donations. We’ll see whether “everything” is really on the table, as the government says. Läs mer…

A 40-year-old private in the Australian army and her 62-year-old husband been arrested for allegedly spying for Russia.

Both Russian-born Australian citizens, they have been accused of obtaining Australian Defence Force material to share with Russian authorities.

The woman has been employed in the Australian Defence Force for several years as an information systems technician. Her husband is a self-employed labourer.

Each is charged with one count of preparing for an espionage offence, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years jail. They were due to appear in court on Friday. This is the first time an espionage offence charge has been laid since new laws were introduced in 2018.

At a Friday news conference, the Australian Federal Police commissioner, Reece Kershaw, and the head of ASIO, Mike Burgess, announced the Thursday arrests of the pair at their Brisbane home.

Kershaw said the AFP alleged the couple worked together to access ADF material relating to national security.

“We allege the woman was undertaking non-declared travel to Russia, whilst she was on long term leave from the Australian Defence Force [since 2023],” he said.

“We allege that whilst she was in Russia, she instructed her husband, who remained in Australia, on how to log into her official work account from their Brisbane home.

”We allege her husband would access requested material and would send it to his wife in Russia.

”We allege they sought that information with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities.”

Whether the information was handed over is still being investigated, Kershaw said. Also being investigated is whether the woman joined the ADF intending to commit espionage.

Kershaw stressed that “no significant compromise has been identified”

“Our Five Eyes partners and the Australian government can be confident that the robust partnerships within the counter foreign interference task force mean we will continue to identify and disrupt espionage and foreign interference
activity.”

The pair have been in Australia more than ten years. The woman obtained Australian citizenship in 2016 and her husband became a citizen in 2020. They had Russian passports.

Burgess told the news conference the espionage threat was “real”.

“Multiple countries are seeking to steal Australia’s secrets,” he said. Läs mer…