A US attorney who helped take down powerful New York mafia groups said laws used to combat organised crime in construction industries and unions could be similarly adopted in Queensland to punish tactics employed by the CFMEU.
Ronald Goldstock – the former director of the New York State Organised Crime Task Force and the former inspector-general of the US Department of Labor – prepared an expert report for the CFMEU Commission of Inquiry, and flew to Australia to give evidence in Brisbane on Thursday.
He began by outlining the landscape of organised crime in New York in the 1980s, when mafia groups controlled various industries and unions, and the challenge to prosecute illegal activity.
He then turned to the introduction of federal legislation known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) Act to target these groups with tougher, specified penalties.
Commissioner Stuart Wood KC asked if a RICO-like statute might be adopted in Queensland to combat corruption, illegal activity and tactics used by the CFMEU.
“Before this commission, we’ve heard a lot of evidence about unlawful delays to significant construction projects by the CFMEU,” Wood said.
“[So could] stopping concrete pours, blocking construction sites … become an illegal act for the purposes of a Queensland RICO statute?”
Goldstock said he believed a similar framework could be used, citing Olympic infrastructure as an example.
“You have the Olympics, and it has to be done on time,” he said.
“[It would be] possible to create a predicate offence, which says: any delay which results in delay for the Olympic infrastructure or related construction, could be charged as a RICO predicate.”
Wood outlined instances where CFMEU officials were accused of installing “bad actors” to intimidate workers on building sites, win contracts and increase union membership, and whether RICO laws would be effective at stamping out such behaviour.
“The specific answer is yes,” Goldstock said.
“What you’re describing, if true, is almost the definition of organised crime.”
He later said RICO has the potential to prosecute large group activity, which would be its strength against the CFMEU.
“I think that you can make a major difference within corruption and racketeering in the Queensland construction industry,” Goldstock said.
“[RICO] was essential, and not only in the construction industry [but for] organised crime as a whole.
“I don’t think you can be serious about combating organised crime without having a statute like the RICO statute.”
Last year, former opposition leader Peter Dutton called for RICO-style organised crime powers to be introduced in Australia following extensive reports into the conduct of the CFMEU.
“This is the biggest corruption scandal in Australian history,” Dutton said.
“The CFMEU is a modern-day mafia operation. The culture of criminality and corruption is so entrenched, and it will never change – especially under the weak and incompetent Albanese Labor government.”
In response, Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt said RICO laws were unnecessary, as Australia already had legislation to deal with those directing criminal organisations.
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