The long-serving head of a scientists' union appointed to clean up the CFMEU's Victorian branch has suddenly resigned weeks after his appointment after a union administrator received complaints he used offensive language.
Graham McCulloch, former communist, was appointed at the end of August take over the branch once controlled by John Setka, after Federal Government puts CFMEU into administration.
Graham McCulloch has resigned as head of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.Credit: Josh Robenstone
McCulloch and Administrator Mark Irving, Kansas Citywere appointed following revelations of corruption, intimidation and criminal infiltration within the CFMEU in Building Bad series published with this title, Australian Financial Review And 60 minutes.
McCulloch, founder and general secretary of the left-wing National Tertiary Education Union, was expected to lead efforts to clean up the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.
On Friday morning, a spokeswoman for the administrator confirmed McCulloch's departure but declined to answer further questions about the reasons for his resignation.
Sources not authorized to speak publicly said Irving had received unofficial information that he believed required McCulloch's immediate departure.
Government sources familiar with the matter, who also asked not to be named, said McCulloch had used offensive language towards women in the workplace since his appointment.
McCulloch did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him on Friday. The allegation was made informally and was not investigated.
McCulloch was a member of the Communist Party in the 1980s, which might have boosted his profile among militant CFMEU members, but since leaving the university union in 2018 he has held senior positions in the Labour Party and the pension fund.