FWC GM Murray Furlong has begun prosecuting former senior CFMEU construction division Victorian branch officials - primarily president Rob Graauwmans - for allegedly authorising payment of more than $300,000 of union funds to printing companies to benefit ex-HSU leader Diana Asmar as she campaigned for re-election.
FWC general manager Murray Furlong has started an investigation into whether John Setka, the former Victorian branch secretary of the under-administration CFMEU construction and general division, has flouted stringent "anti-avoidance" provisions that might lead to imprisonment by making threats against those now running the union.
The Federal Court has pushed FWC general manager Murray Furlong's prosecution of Diana Asmar back to next month and asked to her to provide a neurologist's report to ascertain whether she "is capable of managing her own affairs in the proceeding".
The nursing union's NSW branch is facing its first contested election in 23 years, with a rank-and-file member and former organiser launching the "Time for Handover" ticket and going up against an incumbent team.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has refused to stay the deregistration of one auditor and suspension of another found to fallen short in their duties to an embattled HSU branch, concluding that no weight should be given to their "desire for reputational repair" while their appeals are heard.
A new analysis argues CFMEU corruption is a response to declining union power after the deregulation of IR and the shift to decentralised wage-setting.
Victoria's new Premier Ben Carroll has pledged to accept the recommendations of an IBAC report that finds the former Andrews Labor Government allowed UFU secretary Peter Marshall to exert "extraordinary influence" in negotiations for a controversial agreement.
