Anti-corruption expert Geoffrey Watson SC’s final report into the Victorian branch, titled Rotting from the top: the CFMEU in Victoria during the Setka era, is now being tendered.
Watson tells the inquiry the report, dated January 27, 2026, was ordered by the administration about a month after the release of the Queensland report last year.
Eventually, he was given a deadline of December 1.
Watson says he finished the report in draft form on November 29 after some “hiccups” and emailed it to CFMEU administrator Mark Irving KC on about that date, after earlier getting Irving’s email wrong.
“I didn’t want anyone else seeing it,” Watson says of the report in its draft form at that stage.
The report is heavily redacted, largely said to help protect the identities of those who spoke to Watson. A private version of the report, not being tendered, also identifies the people behind pseudonyms used in the report – some of which were even redacted themselves.
Counsel for the administration has said this morning it does not object to the tender of the report, but may make submissions in future about how much weight should be given to it.
