Chilling New Details Emerge Of The Victorian Branch Of The CFMEU Standing Over Afghan Villagers In 2015

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

Disturbing new reports have emerged this week alleging that members of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU conducted a series of standover operations against unarmed Afghan villagers during a 2015 deployment to Uruzgan province.

The allegations, which remain untested, have prompted a significant realignment of public opinion across talkback radio, suburban front bars and comment sections nationwide, as Australians race to reconcile the reports with their previously held views on both organised labour and the Australian Defence Force.

A spokesperson for the union said the alleged conduct should be understood in its proper context.

"You have to remember these blokes were operating in the fog of public infrastructure construction," the spokesperson said.

"Shit happens. That's the nature of the work. Who are we to judge when we don't understand the context? Developers and public servants don't wear a uniform over there."

Conservative commentators have expressed outrage at the allegations, while noting that similar reporting about decorated SAS personnel was the work of activist journalists and other jealous Taliban deleters with an axe to grind. Progressive commentators, meanwhile, have welcomed the reporting as long-overdue accountability, while continuing to maintain that near-identical reporting by the same journalists into other matters should be treated with extreme caution.

The Betoota Bugle, this masthead's crosstown News Corp rival, has devoted seven pages to the allegations. The Australian has run an editorial calling for the immediate deregistration of the union and a separate editorial questioning the reliability of Nine Entertainment's investigative unit, published on facing pages.

At the time of writing, readers across the country were continuing to process the developments through whichever framework caused them the least personal discomfort, with early indications suggesting the facts of the matter would play a limited role in the national conversation.

More to come.