Abbott to recruit former federal police officers to weed out law-breaking unionists
CFMEU union protest at a Grocon site in Melbourne. Source: News Limited
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EX-federal police will be headhunted to help root out law-breaking unionists, bikies and thugs on building sites.
The infiltration of criminals on sites has been raised with the Coalition, which is now looking at ways to give more "teeth" to its new-look construction industry watchdog.
A Coalition party room committee report on options for the new Australian Building and Construction Commission was handed to Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott before the election and included proposals for ex-police to visit sites to help stamp out problems.
He and incoming Workplace Relations Minister Eric Abetz are now considering the report. The Herald Sun understands Liberal MPs working on the report were told of standover tactics by bikies.
The CFMEU Grocon union protest. Source: News Limited
"The clear message we received is there are significant problems of criminality and significant involvement of bikie gangs," said a source familiar with the report.
While it was not a specific recommendation of the report, one option being pushed by the construction industry is to have greater links with serving police officers.
The report does look at options for recruiting retired federal police to key roles in the watchdog body.
"There would be a push to have more people with a past working in law enforcement," the source said.
"We need to have more people with a police background working as investigators with the ABCC, and people experienced in investigating and evidence gathering. We need ex-coppers."
Any move to increase the use of law enforcement agencies or past police members on work sites is likely to be fiercely resisted by unions.
Construction workers clash with police at the Grocon building site in Lonsdale Street where Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union workers have been protesting. Picture: Nine NewsSource: Supplied
Working group chairman Paul Fletcher and another member of the party body, Victorian federal MP Josh Frydenberg, met with unions including the militant CFMEU in Melbourne late last month.
It is unclear if law enforcement issues were discussed.
Yesterday, Australian Workers Union Victorian secretary Ben Davis said that employing police on building sites would be wrong.
"We're talking about the construction industry, we're not talking about theSons of Anarchy," he said, referring to the US television show about fictional outlaw bikies.
The Howard government created the ABCC, which was watered down and replaced by Labor.
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