Fatima Payman to speak at event supporting scandal-plagued CFMEU

Labor defector Fatima Payman has joined forces with CFMEU rebels fighting the government’s takeover of the rogue union, prompting the government to demand the senator rule out taking money from embattled construction figures. The 29-year-old quit Labor in July when she broke party rules by crossing the floor of the Senate to support a Greens motion to recognise Palestinian statehood and has now teamed up with blue-collar unions that have pledged to spend millions against Labor in retaliation for the government’s reaction to alleged criminality in the CFMEU. Senator Fatima Payman.

Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Payman is due to speak at a “defend the CFMEU” event in Melbourne on December 5 alongside sacked Queensland CFMEU leader Jade Ingham, who is leading the High Court challenge against laws placing branches into administration. On Monday, Payman informed senators of her intention to push for a parliamentary probe into the administration of the union, representing one of her most striking anti-Labor stances since she left the party that placed her into parliament. The Coalition wanted to deregister the union entirely while the Greens have expressed similar concern to Payman.



The Greens’ stance attracted criticism for lining up with a union dogged by criminal allegations revealed in this masthead’s Building Bad series this year. Industrial Relations Minister Murray Watt said it was hard to understand how Payman was aiding her West Australian constituents by flying to Melbourne to speak at the CFMEU-backing rally. “Senator Payman needs to tell Australians whether she is seeking donations or votes from the sacked CFMEU bosses and their allies,” Watt told this masthead.

Her office did not respond to a question about whether she would take donations from CFMEU offshoots or aligned unions. Payman used Senate estimates to question the $200,000-plus salaries of top officials in the office of the CFMEU administrator, including former Labor staffers. Watt, in the early November hearing, asked Payman who was feeding her pro-CFMEU questions, prompting her to claim the senior minister was “insulting my intelligence”.

The CFMEU rally Payman is attending next month will be in the seat of Wills, where Labor MP Peter Khalil faces a challenge from the Greens appealing to the seat’s Muslim and student voters. She is one of three speakers, including industrial lawyer David Water and Ingham. Ingham, who was also an assistant secretary in Queensland, has set up a company with former state secretary Michael Ravbar – named Your Union, Your Choice – and has been crowdfunding and campaigning against the administration process.

Labor fears this body will fund other unions. The event has also been spruiked by Jordan van den Lamb, also known by his social media identity purplepingers, who is standing for a Senate spot for the Victorian Socialists at the upcoming election. In a Your Union, Your Choice Instagram post last week, Payman attacked the wages of the administrators, accusing them of being unaccountable and having to report on their progress only every six months.

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