Labor needs to tame or expel its corrupt union affiliates

Since the Rum Rebellion of 1808, corruption in public life has been a serious problem in Australia.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme," and in Queensland its meter seems to be 14 years. In 1987 the Fitzgerald Inquiry laid bare corruption and abuse of power in the Bjelke-Petersen government. 14 years later it was Labor and the Shepherdson Inquiry in 2001.

Now in 2015 the Dyson Royal Commission has revealed widespread wrong-doing including extortion, blackmail and assault amongst some of the trade unions that control the ALP.

But the tune has changed.

In 1987 it was good men and women within Bjelke-Petersen's Queensland National Party that eventually toppled Petersen.

In 2001 it was Premier Beattie who instituted Shepherdson, eventually forcing the resignation or expulsion of 3 of his own MLAs.

Where are the good men and women in the party now? The ALP has been doing its best to excuse and defend these instances of criminality.

The only Labor member who appears at all concerned about the latest revelations is very-former Premier Beattie, who called for the CFMEU, to show cause why it shouldn't be disaffiliated from the ALP.

The rotten Bjelke-Petersen culture festered and prospered because of a widespread feeling "that's just the way it is".

Brothel owners and illegal casino operators have always paid-off police, and politicians have always been partial to bribes, so the argument went, and anyway, these guys are no worse than their Labor predecessors.

Now the argument appears to be that unions will be unions, and that's OK, because they stand up for the worker.

Well the "boys will be boys" syllogism wasn't OK 30 years ago, and it isn't now. And arguably the infection of the political realm by union corruption is a more serious threat to democracy than anything that happened in the Petersen years.

To start with, the unions think they own the ALP, as they told Commissioner Heydon.

They have good grounds for this belief. Not only do they have half the votes at ALP conferences, but virtually all members of parliament are also members of a union, and they are the major funders funnelling millions of dollars each year directly to the ALP.

This is part of the trend of the increasing corporatisation of politics where memberships are tending to decline relatively and absolutely, and party structures are dominated by careerists informed and advised by pollsters rather than party elders.

So they are really the shareholders in what is supposed to be a democratic party with their stake in the party directly determined by the number of members they affiliate.

And, as the commission has shown, membership numbers are often a fiction, with workers signed-up to unions under deals where employers pay the fees unbeknownst to the "member".

But it doesn't stop there. Unions donate to all sorts of third party organisations. For example, not only are the unions "shareholders" in the ALP, but QCU invested $50,000 in the Australian Solar Council last election. They even fund the Greens (a total of $567,766 in 2013-14).

In the Redcliffe by-election, when spending caps applied, the LNP was outspent 7 to 1. The parties spent equal amounts each, but other bodies, including trade unions, spent the rest.

The Hawke "union accord" which coalesced smaller unions into large super unions is partly to blame. Keating also gave them access to financial power by creating the compulsory superannuation industry.

Now union-run super funds provide hefty top ups to union official salaries, providing career paths which attract tertiary educated careerists to working class unions.

And unlike any other business they are able to collude, in breach of the trade practices act. They are also frequently conflicted, representing workers at the same time as they take money from their bosses for so-called training courses.

Attempts to tame unions, like the Australian Building and Construction Commission, have been reversed by subsequent ALP administrations.

There is a cash for votes problem in this country, and most of it currently lies on the Labor side.

Peter Beattie is right. But not only is disaffiliation almost inevitable, in the meantime the party should not accept any donations or affiliation fees.

Longer term they need to either beef up the QCCC in this area, or establish a standing commission, similar to the ABCC, but with a broader remit to look at all unions.

They should do this because it is the right thing to do.

They should also do it because, as history rhymes, ignoring it will bring its own reward. The Nationals tolerated Joh for too long and were flayed at the first electoral opportunity.

Peter Beattie moved as soon as the corruption became apparent, and turned a minority parliamentary position into one of the strongest majorities in Queensland's history.

Premier Palaszczuk needs to decide whether she wants to be Russell Cooper, or Peter Beattie.