Labor leader Rebecca White must explain why her Party took money from an organisation with alleged links to Outlaw Criminal Motorcycle Gangs and which has been fined more than $15 million in recent years for breaches of the law.
Ms White and her Labor colleagues have gone into hiding since the $146,425 donation from the Victorian office of the CFMEU, with no Labor member holding any press conferences since it was revealed last week.
According to the ABC*, “Victoria Police has identified Outlaw Motor Cycle Gang (OMCG) members being used by union officials as "hired muscle" for debt collection, with "standover" tactics used to intimidate victims. The submission said a number of known bikie gangs, including the Rebels, Comancheros and Banditos, had been identified as being actively involved in trade union activities like strikes of picket lines, or debt collecting.”
The CFMEU has had more than $15,002,125 in fines imposed against the CFMEU since 2005.
If the shoe was on the other foot, Labor and their colleagues in the Greens would be shouting from the rooftops about how inappropriate it is to take a six-figure donation from a group with these links.
Rebecca White must explain why Labor is prepared to take money from a group with this track record.