It began, as these things do, with grave faces on breakfast television.
The nation was informed that the greatest threat to the Australian way of life was not money laundering through Crown towers of glass, not rate-rigging by institutions who can calculate compound interest down to the cent but somehow mislay a few billion in compliance, not the mysterious disappearance of affordable groceries between paddock and checkout. No. The barbarians were at the gates in high-vis.
The allegations against the CFMEU have been delivered with the solemnity usually reserved for royal commissions and state funerals. Union officials accused of bullying, coercion, perhaps even behaving like corporate executives without the courtesy of a tie.
It is, we are told, a crisis.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe helpfully known as the Australian economy, the banks have been gently coughing up admissions of charging dead people for financial advice, laundering money for organised crime, and levying fees for services that were about as real as a unicorn’s superannuation account. After the small unpleasantness known as the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, there were apologies, some fines, and the quiet redistribution of a few billion dollars in shareholder value to cover the embarrassment.
But no dawn raids on boardrooms. No breathless choppers over the leafy suburbs.
The supermarket duopoly, that charming double act known as Coles Group and Woolworths Group, has perfected the ancient art of shrinkflation. The block of chocolate is slimmer. The bag of chips contains mostly nitrogen and hope. The farmer receives cents. The consumer pays dollars. The margin widens like the gap between rhetoric and reality.
Yet the language is polite. “Market dynamics.” “Supply chain pressures.” “Challenging environment.”
No one suggests appointing an administrator to the fruit and veg aisle.
And then there is the Commonwealth’s own little side hustle, the administrative masterpiece known as Robodebt scheme. An algorithm, armed with a spreadsheet and a misplaced sense of righteousness, calculated debts that did not exist and dispatched them to some of the most vulnerable people in the country. It was efficient. It was automated. It was unlawful.
It was also, for a time, profitable. A nice little earner.
When the scheme unravelled, as unlawful schemes tend to do, the government expressed regret in tones usually reserved for overcooked lamb. Settlements were paid. Careers drifted sideways or gently upwards. The machine was quietly switched off, like a faulty photocopier.
But we are assured that the real menace remains the blokes on the scaffolding.
The construction union, we are told, throws its weight around. It negotiates aggressively. It ensures its members are paid well. It occasionally makes developers weep into their prospectuses.
In other words, it behaves like every major corporation in the country, minus the Cayman Islands.
The difference, of course, is class. When executives conspire, it is strategy. When unions organise, it is thuggery. When banks mislead regulators, it is a compliance failure. When workers blockade a site, it is an existential threat to democracy.
The moral panic is exquisitely selective.
Imagine if the standards applied to the CFMEU were applied evenly. A supermarket chain found to have gouged suppliers would face the rhetorical equivalent of a SWAT team. A bank caught charging fees to the deceased would be described as an organised crime syndicate with a logo. A department that unlawfully extorted money from citizens would be treated as what it was: a state-sanctioned shakedown.
Instead, we are invited to believe that the true danger to the republic is a union official with a loud voice and a laminated site pass.
None of this is to suggest that any organisation should be above scrutiny. If crimes have been committed, prosecute them. If individuals have abused power, hold them accountable. The law, in theory, applies to everyone.
But the spectacle would be more convincing if the outrage were not so asymmetrical.
The CFMEU may be accused of acting like a bully in steel-capped boots. The banks acted like bullies in Italian leather. The supermarkets practise a quieter form of coercion at the checkout. And the government, when it automated injustice, demonstrated that you do not need a balaclava when you have legislation.
We have a curious hierarchy of sin in this country. Petty criminality is paraded. Grand larceny is amortised.
So by all means investigate the union. Shine the light. Lay charges if warranted. But spare us the pantomime that this is the epicentre of national corruption while boardrooms and cabinet rooms hum serenely in the background.
Because if we are serious about cleaning up the joint, we might begin with the places where the real money went.
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In the “old days”, steal vegetables, a chicken, rabbit, even unwanted excess fruit, off to Botany Bay via diseasey hulks. Steal Bengal or Natal, become governor of Botany Bay, NSW. Boardroom level thieves abound, don’t they, QANTAS? Control, coerce, donate, pocket…
A delightfully accurate explanation of the double standard of responsibility maintained so that the bosses can do what they like and get away with it.
Where were the prosecutions for Scummo & the Five Secret Ministries, or the gg David HUrley for gifting those five ministries in return for a $17 MILLION PER YEAR BRIBE to provide ”leadership services”??
What happened to the petitioned investigation into the Murdoch Media Manipulation Monopoly ….. and the misrepresentation of ”news” as ”entertainment”?
@ Phil Pryor: Agreed.
Unlike most here, I spent an important part of my working life as a union official.
Full time and accountable to the members.
I (along with many of my colleagues) have found it disturbing that some seek to apply the standards of behaviour of the most unethical of the tax dodgers and shady corporations to the union movement.
Back then ethics and transparency of union officials were vital factors in maintenance of credibility with members.
Civil disobedience was regarded as ethical, and unions accepted the consequences. They didn’t dodge the fact that they exercised civil disobedience in opposing bad laws.
Those that used dishonesty and corruption to further their interests were shunned.
It seems standards have changed.
There has and always will be ‘revulsion’ at the thought that blue collar workers, no matter what their industry and upward market association, were always the lesser in terms of respect.
The simple fact of the matter is attitude, poor attitudes and sneering disgruntlement at people who are different and think differently, and simply shows that the ‘common’ person is a far better humanitarian than those who believe that they are our betters.
Entitlement does not bestow good manners, does not give a thirst for genuine knowledge nor provide automatic upward mobility.
Judgementalism, sneering, haughtiness call it whatever you like, the ordinary person is the salt of the earth, pure and simple. That many prevail and make good is all the more pleasing and gives heart to those that seek to model them in their own endeavours.
That anyone should work hard and educate themselves along the way without an old boy school network is abhorrent to them, and the times that we are living in a certainly evidence of that.
Moot points….
https://michaelwest.com.au/prince-andrew-arrested-illegal-land-sales-and-the-isis-brides-scam-of-the-week/
https://michaelwest.com.au/money-laundering-anz-and-crown-covering-for-each-other-what-about-austrac/
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/old-habits-are-hard-to-kick-for-banks-they-re-behaving-badly-again-20240715-p5jtrt.html This never went away and is more rampant than ever before under the guise of ‘fraud’ regulatory systems.
https://theconversation.com/why-do-bankers-behave-badly-they-make-too-much-to-ask-questions-146685
That former erstwhile institution known as Macquarie Bank is a known local thief caught with their hands in the cookie jar and being sued by ASIC, finally.
As for supermarket duopoly’s why shop there? Gave that up a while ago and support markets, local fresh fruit and vegetable shops, there’s farmers markets and artisan suppliers in just about everything that you need these days; convenience costs. Take time to reengage with the sensations of procurement rather than just a chore to be endured. Also helps to change patterns with this addiction, and an addiction it is, a carefully calibrated one at that.
https://michaelwest.com.au/breaking-the-social-media-addiction-cycle-as-adults-2/
I’ve had my share of dodgy online consumerism, however attempting to get justice is a joke, everyone passes the buck and I’m out of pocket to the tune of $107.40. The simple fact of the matter is to oust them by word of mouth and hopefully they go out of business.
https://michaelwest.com.au/dodgy-online-items-in-consumer-watchdogs-crosshairs/
So, where’s the Law, in the miscreants back pockets!
Attributed to Joseph Stalin, but unverified, is the observation that ‘a single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.’ In an odd sort of way, there’s a kind of correlation between that attitude and the behaviours of blue and white-collar crims. The bloke in the street who gets lumbered with shoplifting at Bunnings or Woolies may well end up in jail, while the corporate exec fiddling the books to the tune of millions may merely be scolded and fined a token amount. Those that say the system is rigged have a legitimate gripe.
A microcscopic example: my partner got booked for driving with the dog in her lap. The fine some $570-ish plus three points. She appealed, as the dog, a kelpie cross, was most definitely not in her lap. On the day of the appeal, the booking cop, a young woman, took the oath to tell the truth and then proceeded to lie though her teeth. The magistrate refused to read the supplied Stat Dec or look at the supplied photos which would have demonstrated the physical impossibility of a large dog being on my partner’s lap. She instead lectured my partner about road safety and denied the appeal, adding a couple of hundred more dollars to the sting. So, in this instance, the cop perjured herself in court and the magistrate went along with the fabricated evidence. The big people win, the little people lose. A signal lesson for my wife who had a lifetime’s experience of fair & honest law in China.
@ Canguro: We had a similar experience with NSW Police about a decade ago. Eldest son (made the mistake) of safely driving between a tradie ute being parked and the Police car that had pursued this vehicle for over 2 km before pulling them over.
For some unknown reason the Police vehicle abandoned action on the ute and pursued our son for about 5 km, passing through red traffic lights, finally catching up withy him after he had parked in the street near his inner city residence.
Two Police then jumped out of the Police car and commenced assaulting him, but being a very fit athlete he easily repulsed these attacks by making the Police look incompetent before ”surrendering”. He was hand-cuffed and his car searched for alleged ”drug trafficking”.
He was taken to the local Police station and charged with ”Resisting Arrest” and ”Assault Police”.
Long story short – We investigated the matter and discovered that the Police statement was a fabrication that both officers used to perjure themselves at the subsequent Court attendance.
The Police statement was fabricated because a series of pics displaying individual corners of the road where the ”pursuit” occurred showed that the alleged action by our son could not be seen by the pursuing Police vehicle.
Too many Police have egos much greater than their abilities or experience, much to the disadvantage of the general public whom they are allegedly supposed to serve.
The double standard that the CFMEU is made to endure is compounded by union corruption that never shows up on the radar.
I refer to the corruption in which the “tame-cat unions” are engaged.
Unlike the CFMEU that actually fights for favourable outcomes for members, (and suffers the consequences of that) there’s a few that do not.
They put on a show of militancy while behind closed doors they do deals with employer groups.
They are generally conservative/right-wing in their political outlook. But we will never see any media outrage over their despicable double-dealing.
The current campaign against the CFMEU is aimed at turning it into another tame-cat union.
No one calls the AMWU or CEPU “tame cat”
They are generally ethical and very militant, they focus on the membership.
They aren’t constantly exposed for criminal activity and association.
The CFMEU chooses not to follow that standard
••••••••••
And while I’m here…
We expect different financial and ethical standards from charities (and education institutions and environmental groups) to corporations.
The unions are part of the not for profit sector.
The public can reasonably expect high standards from officials. And some time ago, unions and their supporters accepted the high standards as a badge of honour.
No one calls the AMWU or CEPU “tame cat”
Hmm.
Did I mention those unions?
I don’t think so.
Let me check.
No, I did not.
All is well.
Did I touch a nerve?
My point was to demonstrate that militancy and lawful behaviour aren’t mutually exclusive.
Some appear to speculate that the corrupt and illegal behaviour of the CFMEU is identified because it is militant.
My view is that the behaviour of the CFMEU is identified because it is regularly illegal and corrupt, unlike other construction industry unions such as the AMWU and CEPU