The CFMEU's national secretary has described an Australian Federal Police officer's alleged decision to bring up his knowledge of the personal details of the ACT branch secretary's children during a raid last year as "cowboy activity".
The union's lawyer, Phillip Pasfield of Slater and Gordon, sent a letter to the Commonwealth Ombudsman last week detailing allegations of police heavy-handedness against members in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland.
CFMEU ACT branch secretary Dean Hall's children were mentioned by an AFP officer during a raid last year, according to a letter the union has sent to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
The letter details a conversation between the union's ACT branch secretary Dean Hall and an AFP officer during a raid in August last year, during which the latter allegedly scrolled through the former's mobile phone and found his wife by name.
Mr Pasfield claims Hall said words to the effect of, "have you gone through all my finances and everything?" to which the officer replied: "you are giving me too much credit".
According to the transcript in the letter, the officer went on to say: "But I do know about your family things, like I know your kids names and where they go to school and when you drop them off.
"What do you expect? I am profiling you. That is what you do when you profile someone."
Mr Pasfield described the alleged encounter as "behaviour which was threatening and intimidatory".
"They were unwarranted and were said in an effort to threaten Mr Hall," he said.
CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan told Fairfax Media the officer's language during the apparent conversation was highly inappropriate.
"The dragging of people's families into this is unacceptable; it's a bridge too far," he said.
"It seems from any analysis, not just on our say so, that the police have been engaged in cowboy activity."
The ACT Supreme Court ruled in December last year that part of the raid in question was unlawful on the grounds that police withheld information from the magistrate in order to obtain a search warrant.
The letter refers to another incident in the ACT last year, during which a police sergeant attached to the trade union royal commission allegedly told members of the construction industry "he could not tell them who they should enter into an enterprise agreement with," but that if it were him he would choose the Master Builders Association of the ACT over the CFMEU.
ACT Policing and the MBA ACT denied the union's claims about the officer's conduct in December, saying the sergeant was there to inform stakeholders about their rights and neither advocated for nor condemned any group.
The letter also complained of police conduct and media leaks during investigations in Victoria and Queensland.
Mr Pasfield said the union opted to bypass AFP Professional Standards because of "antagonism exhibited by certain members of the AFP towards my client".
Mr Noonan said the timing of the letter and details of its contents in Guardian Australia on Saturday morning had nothing to do with the Australian Building and Construction Commission legislation due to be debated this week.
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| CFMEU Canberra headquarters |
CFMEU ACT branch secretary Dean Hall's children were mentioned by an AFP officer during a raid last year, according to a letter the union has sent to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.
The letter details a conversation between the union's ACT branch secretary Dean Hall and an AFP officer during a raid in August last year, during which the latter allegedly scrolled through the former's mobile phone and found his wife by name.
Mr Pasfield claims Hall said words to the effect of, "have you gone through all my finances and everything?" to which the officer replied: "you are giving me too much credit".
According to the transcript in the letter, the officer went on to say: "But I do know about your family things, like I know your kids names and where they go to school and when you drop them off.
"What do you expect? I am profiling you. That is what you do when you profile someone."
Mr Pasfield described the alleged encounter as "behaviour which was threatening and intimidatory".
"They were unwarranted and were said in an effort to threaten Mr Hall," he said.
CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan told Fairfax Media the officer's language during the apparent conversation was highly inappropriate.
"The dragging of people's families into this is unacceptable; it's a bridge too far," he said.
"It seems from any analysis, not just on our say so, that the police have been engaged in cowboy activity."
The ACT Supreme Court ruled in December last year that part of the raid in question was unlawful on the grounds that police withheld information from the magistrate in order to obtain a search warrant.
The letter refers to another incident in the ACT last year, during which a police sergeant attached to the trade union royal commission allegedly told members of the construction industry "he could not tell them who they should enter into an enterprise agreement with," but that if it were him he would choose the Master Builders Association of the ACT over the CFMEU.
ACT Policing and the MBA ACT denied the union's claims about the officer's conduct in December, saying the sergeant was there to inform stakeholders about their rights and neither advocated for nor condemned any group.
The letter also complained of police conduct and media leaks during investigations in Victoria and Queensland.
Mr Pasfield said the union opted to bypass AFP Professional Standards because of "antagonism exhibited by certain members of the AFP towards my client".
Mr Noonan said the timing of the letter and details of its contents in Guardian Australia on Saturday morning had nothing to do with the Australian Building and Construction Commission legislation due to be debated this week.
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