This is an unholy union

James Hol
Although he has always followed politics and culture closely, James Hol was not politically active until the COVID overreaction. In a matter of months, James gained invaluable insight into all levels of government, and was deeply involved in federal, state, and local election campaigns.

Conceptually, unions are perfectly compatible with libertarian ideology. Workers voluntarily exercising their collective bargaining power is a perfectly acceptable free-market response to what can often be an unbalanced relationship between employers and employees. All libertarians would prefer to see these voluntary associations deal with some of the natural consequences that markets create, rather than the coercive and violent state trying in vain to regulate them away.

LABOR MAFIA

The true purpose of the vast majority of mainstream unions in Australia, however, is obvious to anyone who is politically active: to funnel money and members into the Labor Party. It is no secret that the only way to advance within the Labor Party is to become a union leader; it is not even an open secret, it is written on the door. Union thugs are also a useful tool during election season, smashing up opposition parties and intimidating volunteers at polling stations.

The vast majority of contributions to the Labour Party come from the trade unions

This does not mean that there is no each good unions; many unions do great work, but they tend to be smaller and eventually get chased out of space. Likewise, in the time that union leaders spend factionalizing, politicking, and satisfying their political ambitions, they may occasionally help out a few workers. But politics always comes first.

The recent news linking the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) to criminal organisations and intimidation tactics came as no surprise to anyone who has spent even five minutes in politics. The only thing that surprised me was that people didn’t know this already. The day we see the unions fully exposed and their relationship with the Labour Party properly investigated is probably a long way off.

UNHOLY TRINITY

There is another player in this three-part corruption ring: industrial superfunds. In 2019, industrial superfunds paid more than $10 million to unions that aligned with the Labor Party, up from just over $4 million a decade earlier. By 2030, the funds are predicted to pump more than $30 million a year into unions.

Industry super funds are by far the largest political donors in Australia. But these are not donations: they are corruption. Industry super funds pay their members’ pension money to unions for vastly inflated and vaguely worded services: sponsorship fees, marketing costs and events. The industry super funds are adamant that these are not political donations but legitimate expenditure, which the Australian Electoral Commission is only too happy to accept.

Furthermore, industrial super funds invest heavily in union-backed infrastructure projects. The unholy trinity of industrial super funds that fund unions through the retirement savings of millions of Australians, who then funnel that money to the Labor Party, are not only shamelessly stealing from hardworking Australians, but are also propping up a bloated sector of the economy with politically influenced investments. These funds are also among the most prolific when it comes to shareholder activism, driving much of the ESG investing movement and corporate wokification in Australia.

Union thugs are also a useful tool during the election period

Previous achievements

Prime Minister Albanese was heavily criticised for failing to deliver on his election promise to stay out of our super, but the truth is the Labor Party has been getting a huge chunk of our super for years. The recent changes only further entrench industry super funds as the default choice for most Australians and push people even further away from any degree of autonomy through self-managed super funds (SMSFs).

While there was rightly much ado about the tax changes to super, the payday superannuation guarantee from 1 July 2026 went largely unnoticed. A change that will largely not benefit smaller funds and SMSFs.

The real beneficiary of these changes is ultimately the Labor Party. The vast majority of contributions to the Labor Party come from unions – that almost goes without saying. Only 15 percent of the Australian workforce is unionized, but the CFMEU alone donated more than $3 million to the Labor Party in the last election year.

This article was originally published by Liberty Itch.