A royal commission into the CFMEU sounds like accountability arriving at last. On this Garage edition of the Court of Public Opinion, Jeremy Cordeaux welcomed it — but only up to a point, because the questions of who is calling it, and when, troubled him as much as the corruption it will examine.
Thirty-Six Billion Reasons
The scale is enormous. Jeremy pointed to what he said could be up to $36 billion in wasted public money tied to the corrupt conduct now under scrutiny. That is not a rounding error — it is a sum that, spent honestly, could have transformed services or eased the cost of living for millions.
Against that backdrop, a royal commission is warranted. The corruption, in Jeremy’s view, is real and serious, and deserves the fullest investigation.
Why The Sudden Enthusiasm?
What gave him pause was the timing and the messenger. The new Premier, Ben Carroll, has been quick to announce the commission — which is good, Jeremy allowed. But why now? And why the silence before?
He reminded listeners that Jacinta Allan refused a royal commission over and over, and that her husband was a CFMEU official. The party that resisted scrutiny for so long has, the moment its leadership changed, embraced it. That conversion, Jeremy suggested, owes more to political survival than a sudden thirst for truth.
Who Holds The Pen?
Here Jeremy raised the concern he returns to whenever governments investigate themselves. The person who sets up a royal commission enjoys a significant privilege: they appoint the commissioner and write the terms of reference.
Control those two things, and you shape what the inquiry can and cannot examine. An investigation into a government’s own union backers, designed by that same government, is one to watch with real care. The scope, not just the existence, of the commission will determine whether it delivers anything.
Timing Is Everything
His sharpest suspicion concerned the calendar. Any findings, he predicted, would conveniently not appear before the next election. In politics, he observed, timing is everything — numbers, numbers and timing.
A commission announced now, but reporting safely after voters have gone to the polls, lets a government claim the mantle of accountability without facing the verdict of its findings when it matters most.
Real Or Ritual?
Jeremy wasn’t dismissing the commission — $36 billion of potential waste demands investigation. His warning was about the difference between a genuine reckoning and a managed one. Appoint the right commissioner, write honest terms of reference, and report before the election, and it could be real. Control the scope and delay the findings, and it becomes ritual.
Listen To The Full Episode
Catch the complete Garage edition of The Court of Public Opinion, recorded live around the dining room table.
Watch The Full Episode
The Court of Public Opinion streams live every Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (ACST), right here at jeremycordeaux.com. Download the podcast anytime on your favourite podcast app, and join the conversation with your calls and comments.
