Shorten ‘deal’ to win post
BILL Shorten has delivered on a “dirty deal’’ with the CFMEU that ensured union support for his Labor leadership in return for voting down the construction watchdog.
The Turnbull Government will today use correspondence between Mr Shorten and the union in its bid to prove that Mr Shorten chose his own ambition over a plan to protect businesses from intimidation, thuggery and cost blowouts.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash yesterday said the agreement showed “the ALP is now a wholly owned subsidiary of militant unions’’.
In a letter to Mr Shorten leading up to the leadership battle with Anthony Albanese in 2013, the militant union wrote to him saying, “your answers to these questions will be vital in helping CFMEU mem- bers decide who they will support for the position of leader”.
“Will you oppose the reintroduction of the Australian Building and Construction Commission by the Abbott government?”
Mr Shorten wrote back, confirming he would vote down the impending Bill and reminding them it was he who helped abolish it in 2012.
“I am proud of what I achieved, working closely with the leadership of your union,’’ Mr Shorten wrote in correspondence to CFMEU secretary Michael O’Connor.
Mr Shorten needed numbers to beat Mr Albanese in the 2013 contest for Opposition leadership. Mr Shorten this week voted down the reintroduction of the ABCC. Senator Cash, who needs the support of the Senate crossbench to pass the Bill, again called on Labor to pass the legislation and end the “dirty deal”.