Given that, in the eyes of their critics, the ACT ALP and the ACT CFMEU seem to be joined at the hip, the Chief Minister's refusal to contemplate a review of his government's infrastructure projects in order to weed out possible union misconduct is not surprising.
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That said, it is a disappointment and an insult to the intelligence of Canberrans. While obfuscation has long been a hallmark of a government that, after more than two decades, believes its members were born to rule, people shouldn't have their noses rubbed in that fact.
Who knows what might prove to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back? October's election is just around the corner and dissatisfaction with the Labor-Greens coalition is starting to peak. While it is unlikely the ACT Liberals, whose work to reinvent themselves has been undermined by the disclosure of the ultra-conservative manifesto embraced by their "young fogies", could be elected in their own right, they aren't the threat.
The Barr-Rattenbury government's biggest vulnerability is to challenges from high profile independents campaigning on a platform of holding the government to account by insisting on a degree of transparency the territory has not known for decades.
The success of the teals in former safe Liberal seats and Senator David Pocock's defeat of Zed Seselja are obvious templates to follow.
Mr Barr has just handed such candidates manna from heaven by effectively saying his government and the ACT CFMEU are as pure as the driven snow and that there is absolutely nothing to see here.
While we have yet to see specific allegations similar to those made against the Victorian, NSW and Queensland branches levelled at the ACT CFMEU, there are questions that do need to be answered, not just kicked down the road.
One of these is the claim an ACT government official bowed to CFMEU pressure and did not award a contract for the $18 million expansion of the Campbell Primary School to a company that had been recommended by the independent panel.
That allegation is being investigated by the ACT Integrity Commission.
Then there is the significant amount of financial support that ACT Labor has received from the local branch of the CFMEU over many years. This totalled at least $85,000 in the three years before the 2020 election and at least $79,000 since then. This was on top of thousands of dollars in "free facilities use".
That said, ACT Labor has moved to put some daylight between itself and the ACT CFMEU by choosing not to accept any more donations while, in the words of ACT Labor secretary Ash van Dijk, "there is a level of uncertainty" [about the fate of the CFMEU].
It's hard to reconcile that call with Mr Barr's assertion that infrastructure projects funded by the territory government don't require further scrutiny.
The case for a review process similar to that already initiated by the Albanese government is made even stronger given the ACT CFMEU has launched a bid to exert even more direct influence over procurement decisions made by the Barr-Rattenbury administration.
It is taking a motion that would give unions greater powers to investigate and prosecute companies alleged to be in breach of the procurement code, and to "oversee" the appointment of senior ACT public servants, to this month's ACT Labor conference.
That's just not on. The CFMEU, like the corporate sector, is an interested party.
Governments are elected to make these calls, not vested interests whose agendas don't necessarily align with the best interests of the broader community.
It's time to let the sunshine in. It is the only way to clear the air.
