| Police raid CFMEU in search of evidence of bribery and blackmail |
The Australian Federal Police has launched raids on the Canberra head office of the CFMEU in search of evidence of bribery and blackmail.
The raid, which took place on Tuesday afternoon, was prompted by evidence given to the trade unions royal commission, and come as commissioner Dyson Heydon considers whether to withdraw himself on the grounds of apprehended bias. That decision has now been pushed back to Friday.
The ACT police confirmed on Wednesday that a "significant amount of computer files and hardware was seized" during the raid on the construction union's office.
They said the search warrant "related to people already before the courts," and that they would comment no further.
The CFMEU said the raid was "obviously under the direction of the royal commission".
"It smacks of overkill and a waste of police resources at a time when police are stretched dealing with more pressing issues in our community including terror-related activities," the union said in a statement.
"This is nothing other than a political stunt by the royal commission which is desperately trying to defend its credibility and purpose."
The raids come after Fairfax Media reported this week that criminal investigations are taking place in three states into allegations against the most senior levels of the union's leadership on allegations ranging from receiving secret commissions to blackmail.
In Queensland, the CFMEU's former national president and Labor factional boss, Dave Hanna, quit the union as a major criminal investigation examined allegations that he took secret commissions and kickbacks.
In Victoria, police taskforce Heracles has recently taken witness statements from construction industry figures as part of an inquiry into Victorian CFMEU secretary John Setka and his deputy, Shaun Reardon, with a focus on allegations of blackmail over the union's campaign against concrete company Boral.
In NSW, the state union secretary, Brian Parker, is being investigated by police after phone taps were aired at the union royal commission which revealed his close relationship with organised crime figure and allegedly crooked labour hire firm boss, George Alex.
A former CFMEU organiser and a serving CFMEU official in Canberra were recently charged by police in connection to evidence uncovered by detectives attached to the royal commission, as has another CFMEU official in Brisbane.
A former ACT union organiser was taken into police custody in July after admitting to the royal commission that he had accepted payments of $60,000 from a formwork contractor.
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