The CFMEU Had a Wish List. The Albanese Government Is Ticking It Off.

In 2018, the CFMEU published a manifesto. Eighteen policy demands for what they expected from a future Labor government. It was called Goodbye Neoliberalism, penned by John Falzon and enthusiastically endorsed by the union’s national leadership.

The document was quietly scrubbed from the internet. But the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry held onto it. And this week, they revealed something that should make every small business owner in Australia furious: the Albanese Government has already implemented more than half the demands on that list.

Not coincidentally. Not accidentally. Methodically.

What the Manifesto Actually Says

The 18-point plan reads like a union’s wildest dreams list. Among the demands already ticked off by this government:

1. Abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Registered Organisations Commission. Done.
2. Make industry assistance conditional on having a unionised workforce.
3. Define casual work rather than leaving it to employers and employees.
4. Encourage superannuation funds to promote unionism and direct investments accordingly.
5. Allow bargaining at enterprise, industry, regional and national level. Done, via pattern bargaining laws.

And this week, they moved to tick off Point 5.

The Procurement Grab

Point 5 of the CFMEU manifesto demanded that government implement procurement rules requiring tenderers to have a unionised workforce or union agreement in order to qualify for government work.

The Albanese Government did not just implement it. They went further. Under the legislation rammed through this week, any business seeking a government deed, grant, or any involvement in a supply chain touching taxpayer money can now be required to have a union agreement in place.

Read that again.

Any business. Any grant. Any supply chain. Any taxpayer dollar. Union agreement required.

This is not a workplace relations reform. This is not about worker safety or fair pay. This is about using the lever of government spending to force unionisation on businesses that have chosen, legally and legitimately, not to operate under a union agreement.

Freedom of association is a legal right in Australia. This legislation makes a mockery of it.

What It Means on the Ground

Comedian Dave Hughes has recently been on a major rant about the Labor government. He claimed that he spoke with a local builder about the real-world consequences of this two-tiered construction sector in a video on Instagram. His core argument is one that any honest observer of the industry recognises: unionised construction sites pay astronomical rates compared to non-union sites, while working significantly fewer productive hours.

The result? Skilled tradespeople are being hoovered up by government-funded union sites, leaving private builders unable to attract workers at any reasonable cost. It is not that private builders are underpaying. It is that they cannot compete with a government-subsidised model that prioritises union density over productivity or value for money.

Now, that same model is about to be extended across the entire federal procurement system.

For small businesses that supply to government, do work in government-connected supply chains, or tender for any publicly funded project: if you do not have a union agreement, you may simply be locked out. Not because your workers want one. Not because there is any evidence of underpayment. But because a union manifesto written in 2018 said so.

The Moral Problem

Let us be clear about what is actually happening here.

The CFMEU is a union that has faced serious allegations of organised crime infiltration on Victorian Big Build sites, bikie gang involvement in drug distribution on government construction projects, corruption and bribery charges against its own officials, and systematic intimidation of non-union workers. Two former NSW branch leaders pleaded guilty to corruption charges in April 2025.

This is the organisation whose 2018 wish list is being quietly implemented as national policy.

And when you look at the money flows, the picture becomes even clearer. The Labor Party has accepted $11.5 million in CFMEU donations under this Prime Minister. The 2026 federal budget allocated $5.3 million to prop up the CFMEU administration. Meanwhile, the budget allocated $1.3 million to help small businesses navigate the Fair Work system. Five times as much to shield a corruption-tainted union as to support the millions of small employers trying to comply with an ever more complex system.

That is not a policy priority. That is a payback schedule.

What Small Business Owners Need to Know

If you currently supply to government or operate anywhere in a publicly funded supply chain, you need to understand what this legislation could mean for your business.

The Coalition’s Senator Jane Hume called it outrageous and a form of compulsory unionism imposed on any business that wants to deal with government. She is right. Procurement decisions should be based on value for money, capability, and compliance. Not on whether you have signed a union agreement.

The practical consequences will flow quickly. Cost blowouts on government projects. More delays. A two-tiered economy where union-connected businesses have privileged access to taxpayer dollars and everyone else fights for whatever is left.

We have already watched this play out in Victoria, a state that is now functionally broke after a decade of construction projects dominated by CFMEU enterprise agreements and billion-dollar cost overruns. Queensland lived through the same story under its previous Labor government.

And now it is coming for federal procurement.

The Bottom Line

This is not about worker welfare. It is not about fair pay. It is not even coherent economic policy.

This is a government using public money to reward a union that bankrolled its election campaigns and systematically excluding businesses that refuse to play along.

If you run a small business and you are not paying attention to what is happening in Canberra right now, you need to start. Because the rules of the game are being rewritten, and they are not being rewritten in your favour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Emily Jaksch is the Founder and CEO of HR Gurus. She works with Australian businesses every day on exactly what employment law changes like this mean in practice. If you want to understand how this affects your business, get in touch.