The Victorian branch of the CFMEU has been plunged into a fresh crisis amid revelations two serving officials have been charged over the distribution of naked images of the fiancee of a former union organiser falsely accused of assisting authorities.
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officials → plunge → authorities
Detectives from Victoria Police’s Taskforce Hawk charged CFMEU organisers Brendan Mizzi and Corey Laux on Thursday after uncovering evidence during raids weeks ago that police will allege shows both union officials illegally distributed the intimate images.
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officials → charge → images
The charging of the pair will almost certainly result in their sacking from the scandal-plagued Victorian branch of the union, given administrator Michael Crosby’s strident comments about the data breach earlier this year.
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charging → result → breach
In July, The Age revealed how police suspected unknown CFMEU officials engaged in an “inside job” when they stole a phone belonging to a former CFMEU organiser who had been falsely accused of working with authorities to expose corruption inside the Victorian branch.
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who → reveal → branch
The former organiser had handed his phone to CFMEU employees prior to resigning from the branch.
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organiser → hand → branch
Rather than the phone being wiped, police suspect figures inside the Victorian CFMEU headquarters downloaded its data and distributed its content to feared members of Melbourne’s underworld and thousands of workers in the building industry.
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figures → wipe → industry
The mass leak, which included intimate images of the ex-organiser’s partner, was seen as being designed to incite reprisals against the former organiser over the inaccurate claim that he was assisting authorities investigating wrongdoing inside the CFMEU.
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he → include → CFMEU
In a statement, police said a 37-year-old St Albans Park man was charged with five counts of distributing an intimate image after a search warrant was executed early on Thursday morning.
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warrant → say → morning
He was bailed to appear at Geelong Magistrates’ Court in January.
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He → bail → January
Police said a 46-year-old man from Westbury, in Gippsland, was then also arrested and charged with five counts of distributing an intimate image.
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man → say → image
The man was bailed to appear at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in January.
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man → bail → January
The statement said a 39-year-old Taylor Lakes man was also arrested last week by the cybercrime squad but released pending further inquiries, although police seized a mobile phone, two Tasers and knuckledusters.
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police → say → phone
A 33-year-old Pascoe Vale man was charged the same day with distributing an intimate image and bailed to appear in January.
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man → charge → January
When details of the leak were first published, Crosby, the CFMEU administrator, described those responsible for sharing the phone’s contents as having engaged in appalling and potentially criminal behaviour.
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Crosby → publish → behaviour
On Thursday, the CFMEU said in a statement only that the matter was under investigation.
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matter → say → investigation
The alleged theft and leaking of the phone data is likely to be examined in the upcoming construction project royal commission, including whether the data was distributed as part of a culture of attacking or intimidating those thought to be co-operating with authorities.
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data → allege → authorities
Premier Ben Carroll said on Thursday that the government was still examining whether former ministers, including Jacinta Allan and Daniel Andrews, would get taxpayer-funded legal assistance if asked to give evidence at the royal commission.
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ministers → say → commission
He said the government was also considering funding legal representation for former public servants, and that royal commissioner Chris Kourakis, the Department of Premier and Cabinet and other agencies would have input.
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government → say → input
“We are working through those issues,” Carroll said.
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Carroll → work → issues
The royal commission was established after two years of reporting in this masthead into allegations of organised crime infiltration and misconduct within the CFMEU and on the state government’s flagship $109 billion Big Build program.
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commission → establish → program
Governments generally pay legal costs incurred by current and former public servants who give evidence at royal commissions.
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who → pay → commissions
Taxpayers paid more than $1 million to cover the legal costs of Coalition ministers during the robo-debt royal commission, including over $460,000 for former prime minister Scott Morrison.
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Taxpayers → pay → Morrison
Carroll said decisions on whether the government would fund legal advice would “be taken and made in appropriate course of time and action”, and he had little oversight on the matter as the commission was independent of government.
Carroll has repeatedly said the commission will be able to reveal “everything that needs to be uncovered”.
He said it was possible hearings would be held during the campaign for the November 28 election.
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hearings → say → election
He has also previously promised that cabinet documents would be given to the commission, and not protected under cabinet confidentiality.
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documents → promise → confidentiality
The federal government this year tried to prevent the antisemitism royal commission from accessing cabinet documents relating to counterterrorism funding by lodging a public interest immunity claim.
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government → try → claim
Cabinet documents are generally considered protected, so ministers can speak freely.
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ministers → consider → ?
But in the case of the antisemitism inquiry, royal commissioner Virginia Bell overruled the government’s attempt to withhold the documents.
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Bell → overrule → documents
When establishing the royal commission on August 20, Carroll confirmed he would ensure no cabinet documents and briefs would be protected from the royal commission.
“Our intention is to give the royal commissioner every power, every resource he needs ... nothing is off limits,” he said.
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he → establish → limits
More from our Building Bad investigation
- How we got here: Labor, the CFMEU and the $109 billion question that Victorians want answered.
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Victorians → get → investigation
- ‘Rotting from the top’: How bribery, drugs, and bikies likely cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
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bribery → rot → dollars
Advisers sought to warn Jacinta Allan of union misconduct and criminal infiltration on the Big Build long before the scandal broke.
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scandal → seek → Build
- The cost: CFMEU price tag of each Metro station revealed.
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tag → reveal → station
The economist whose work was used to dispute the cost of union corruption says he was never asked about it.
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he → use → it
- Administrator fights back:
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Administrator → fight → ?
CFMEU’s new administrator says the culture in the union’s Victorian arm remains broken.
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culture → say → arm
A company that secured contracts as the leading women-led supplier of female workers on Labor’s Big Build is owned by a male serial domestic violence abuser.
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that → secure → abuser
- ‘Grind it out’: How Jacinta Allan defended her refusal to establish a royal commission into Big Build corruption.
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Allan → grind → corruption
The Aporia
