The administrator of the scandal-plagued CFMEU has warned that corruption and coercion in the union ranks is worse than has been reported and has vowed to relentlessly pursue any company boss who has bribed a union official or contributed to the culture of fear and intimidation in the nation’s construction sector.
In his first interview since being appointed last month, senior barrister Mark Irving, KC, told AFR Weekend and 60 Minutes that the “monumental” and “massive” task of tackling the infiltration of bikie and underworld figures into the union and broader building sector was “going to be the hardest job of my life by a long shot”.
He conceded that a fortnight after his appointment, he was yet to establish control of the union he ostensibly led, and said “it’s going to take time before we can properly gain control of all of the CFMEU”.
Mr Irving mounted a blistering attack on state and federal policing agencies for their failure to adequately act on the alliance between underworld figures, including bikies, and certain union and company bosses, as well as the culture of violence and corruption it had spawned.
