Bragg accuses Labor of shielding CFMEU-Cbus ties

Senator Bragg has now accused Labor of "running a protection racket for the CFMEU/Cbus cartel in the Senate" after the bill he introduced on Wednesday wasn't referred to an inquiry. 

Liberal senator and shadow assistant minister for home ownership Andrew Bragg introduced a bill to Senate on Wednesday to amend the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) Act.

According to the explanatory memorandum, the bill inserts an additional limitation in the HAFF’s governing legislation to prohibit investments into potential housing-related projects that Cbus has or will invest in.

"Cbus’ formal and legal affiliation with the CFMEU [Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union] has made it an untenable party with which to do government business," the memorandum reads.

"Allowing Cbus and its affiliate union, the CFMEU, to participate in the HAFF further risks the integrity of taxpayer funds."

In a statement on Wednesday morning, Bragg announced he would introduce a bill to prohibit the HAFF from making any payments to Cbus or housing-related entities financed by Cbus.

Bragg’s reasoning centres on Cbus’ allegedly close ties with the CFMEU, which the government intends to place into administration shortly in response to allegations of criminal links.

The Labor government has now refused to refer this bill to an inquiry, as confirmed by Bragg in a statement on Thursday. 

"In an unprecedented move, Labor has reneged on an agreement to refer a bill designed to protect taxpayer funds from union corruption to an inquiry," the senator said. 

"This highly unusual development reveals Labor wants to wish the CFMEU issues away," he alleged.

Bragg reiterated that while there is CFMEU exposure to the Housing Australia Future Fund, "there is a strong public interest".

"The Senate’s job is to inquire. These issues must be interrogated at the next sitting where I hope the Senate will stand for integrity".

Attention on Cbus

While in recent weeks the focus has predominantly been on CFMEU and the passage of a separate bill that would allow the government to seize control of the troubled union, Bragg, on Wednesday, turned the spotlight back on Cbus with a list of serious allegations.

Namely, the senator alleged that alongside Labor, the CFMEU and Cbus “are locking young people out of the Australian Dream”.

“As it stands, Cbus could be a participant and beneficiary of the HAFF. Cbus is the only super fund to have publicly committed funding to the HAFF,” he said, adding that the fund’s involvement would permit CFMEU to pilfer taxpayer funds.

In November 2022, the super fund announced it has committed to investing up to $500 million over five years to support the construction of new social and affordable homes, made through the HAFF as part of the government’s National Housing Accord.

Earlier this year, CareSuper, Hostplus, Rest, IFM Investors, and Cbus, stated they were seeking to collectively partner with community housing providers to support an initial investment in social and affordable housing through the HAFF.

In his statement, Bragg said “the irony of Labor seeking help from the CFMEU/Cbus cartel to fix the housing crisis that has corrupted the construction industry, is not lost on anyone”.

“Three of the 14 directors of Cbus Super are CFMEU officials. Labor and Cbus have failed to recognise any issue with CFMEU representatives sitting on the board of a $94 billion fund despite the government seeking to put the CFMEU into administration.”

Super Review understands that only one Cbus director is a CFMEU official, the other two in question were nominated to the board by the union.

Cbus says allegations are ‘wrong’

Responding to the bill’s tabling, Cbus Super chief investment officer Brett Chatfield said any suggestion that a super fund would be the recipient of funds via the HAFF is “wrong”.

“A super fund is not involved in the design, construction, or approval of any of these projects,” Chatfield said.

“Once the settings are right and agreed upon, a super fund would be the provider of debt funding to the relevant party, such as a community housing provider, rather than the recipient of HAFF project funding.”

Chatfield likened the proposal to barring a super fund from being able to buy Australian government bonds.

“Like many other investors, Cbus invests in meeting the challenge of housing our nation where it stacks up for our members.

“Our sole focus is on delivering the best possible financial returns for our members, as we have done for the last 40 years as a top-performing super fund.”