CFMEU Construction Arm Placed Under Administration, Hundreds Of Union Officials Get The Boot

As the federal government passed a legislation on Friday, allowing the takeover of the construction arm of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) for three years, more than 270 union officials were removed from their volunteer positions and 11 senior union officials were terminated.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced the union's construction and general division, along with the state and territory branches, will be placed under immediate administration.

Victorian barrister Mark Irving KC, who has been appointed the administrator, will work with Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong, reported ABC News.

Under the new law, the CFMEU is banned from making political donations and the administrator should report to Parliament every six months.

The embattled construction arm of the CFMEU is being forced into administration after allegations of bullying, corruption and members' proximity with criminal gangs.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese affirmed that he will work to weed out the corruption in the building industry.

"We know that trade unionists do a great job when they look after the wages and conditions of their members, but there's no place for corruption or intimidation in the building industry," Albanese said. "To have a corrupt union, you need a corrupt employer to be paying them money and there's no place for it."

Welcoming the takeover, the peak body for builders, Master Builders Australia, said the criminal nexus had "stifled productivity and increased the cost of construction at the expense of the community, taxpayers, jobs and small business."

A joint statement from NSW state secretary Darren Greenfield, assistant secretary Rob Kera and state president Rita Mallia said the union was "shocked and appalled" at the sacking of officials, which they learned from the media, News.com reported.

"The State and Federal Government's actions have done nothing more than attack the rights and conditions of thousands of CFMEU members and their families. This entire farce was born through a baseless media and government stitch up. The lack of due process and basic democratic rights from this Government is disgusting and simply un-Australian," the statement read.