The CFMEU’s Victorian headquarters was used by an influential union delegate in an attempt to trade drugs for weapons to his fellow union members, according to the latest allegations made by a police taskforce.
Taskforce Hawk detectives have charged CFMEU delegate James Hluschko with allegedly trafficking a drug of dependence, possessing prohibited weapons and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The fresh charges are another blow to the Albanese government’s two-year effort to clean up the troubled union and come as Victoria’s nascent royal commission into the building industry gathers steam, with large building companies and the CFMEU already hit with demands to hand over documents.
Construction industry insiders and legal sources have also confirmed to The Age that Victorian detectives, along with federal police agents, continue to gather evidence in an attempt to charge serving and former senior CFMEU officials with bribery offences.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a senior serving Victorian CFMEU organiser has emerged as the central target of an inquiry into allegations that a building company manager sought $40,000 and expensive NRL tickets to gain favour with CFMEU officials in Queensland.
The sources also revealed that the AFP has served search warrants on a law firm as part of an inquiry into allegations that former union boss John Perkovic was given a million-dollar plot of land by a building company boss seeking his favour.
When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced in 2024 he was placing the CFMEU into administration rather than calling a nationwide royal commission, as demanded by the opposition, the federal government insisted an administrator was the quickest and most effective way to clean up the union.
More than 24 months later, Victorian police have continued to target and charge serving CFMEU representatives in an indication that administrator Michael Crosby has been unable to assert control over the union’s recalcitrant branch.
A group of Victorian union delegates recently assembled at CFMEU headquarters on Elizabeth Street in Melbourne’s CBD to canvas protesting against the operations of Taskforce Hawk, Victoria Police’s dedicated building industry anti-crime and corruption operation.
Charge sheets filed by the taskforce allege that at an earlier gathering of delegates at union headquarters, Hluschko arranged to supply “weapons to other CFMEU members, including… trying to exchange weapons for drugs”.
In a formal statement released on Thursday afternoon, a police spokesperson confirmed that Taskforce Hawk had “charged a man and seized weapons, illicit drugs and cash as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged drug trafficking on construction sites in Melbourne”.
The statement also confirmed the 46-year-old CFMEU delegate was charged after being interviewed by detectives and bailed to appear at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court in February.
“Police seized three prohibited weapons (OC spray), anabolic steroids, peptides, prescription drugs and Schedule 4 poisons and approximately $10,000 cash,” the statement alleged.
The arrest is the latest in a series of industry interventions by the taskforce, including the charging on September 17 of two serving CFMEU organisers over the distribution of naked images of the fiancee of a former union organiser falsely accused of assisting authorities.
On September 4, Hawk detectives charged a 35-year-old serving CFMEU delegate over allegations he was selling steroids across Big Build construction sites.
On August 24, the CFMEU arrested and released several senior and serving CFMEU organisers over suspicions of their involvement or knowledge of “alleged secret commissions in the construction industry”.
Hawk has also charged an alleged gangland figure over a $6 million suspected extortion plot – in a case heard before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week– and recently coordinated cross-border raids over allegations that CFMEU officials in Queensland may have been bribed by Victorian construction industry identities.
The police taskforce has also charged three industry players, including ex-bikie chief and former CFMEU delegate Tyrone Bell, over a fake qualifications scam.
Taskforce Hawk is also working closely with the Kourakis Royal Commission, which was called by Ben Carroll shortly after becoming premier in an effort to convince voters that Victorian Labor is serious about cleaning up corruption, crime and waste on major Big Build and commercial building sites.
In Queensland, a commission of inquiry into the CFMEU called by the conservative LNP government has been underway for months.
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Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has three times been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email.From our partners
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