Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has proposed mafia-style laws to clean up a construction sector that he alleges is essentially being run by organised crime.

Dutton said underworld figures were behind much of the industry, describing it as the biggest corruption scandal in the nation’s history as Australian taxpayers were being “ripped off”.

He claimed Labor was compromised by having previously accepted donations from the CFMEU, and accused the federal government of turning a blind eye.

“The Albanese government has known for years about the CFMEU, about the abuse and the violence against women, about the extortion, about the links to the outlaw motorcycle gangs,” Dutton said in Melbourne on Monday.

“All of that has been fully known to ministers in the Albanese government, and yet they’ve done nothing about it.”

While reiterating his call for the construction union to be deregistered, Dutton proposed US-style laws to jail organised crime bosses and kingpins even if they aren’t directly linked to construction sector crimes.

“We’re going to clean it up, and the laws worked in the United States and they can work here in Australia as well,” he said.

“It will make sure that we have the ability for the police to crush these networks.”

The laws would be based on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations laws, which were used to stamp out organised crime and the mafia in the 1970s.

Dutton said he would write to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to request drafting resources for the legislation so it can hit federal parliament next week. He said it would apply to the CFMEU and outlaw motorcycle gangs.

It follows allegations of corruption and violence towards women by the union’s officials were aired by Nine’s 60 Minutes on Sunday night.

In one incident, footage showed a woman being bashed by a bikie-linked health and safety representative on his lunch break from a government-funded project.

The CFMEU’s construction division was forced into administration by the Albanese government last year following claims of bikie and organised crime figures infiltrating the union and other serious criminal activity.

Mark Irving KC was appointed administrator.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt confirmed the latest allegations would be referred to police for further investigation and said he had spoken to Irving.

“He intends to investigate and take action against any serving CFMEU organisers or delegates implicated in these reports,” Watt wrote on X.

“He will also consider further action to stamp out gender violence in the industry.”

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the revelations were shocking and unacceptable.

She met acting Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Rick Nugent early on Monday, with the force vowing to set up a task force.

“Operation Hawk will investigate these new allegations but also too pursue a focus on organised crime, on criminal behaviour that may be taking place across worksites here in Victoria,” Allan said.

Dutton called her response “pathetic” and a “wet lettuce”, saying it would give a green light for the CFMEU to continue its ways.

Irving’s first report revealed corruption and criminal infiltration of the construction industry remains “an area in which much work still needs to be done”.

A separate Victorian review, led by former justice department chief Greg Wilson, recommended a requirement for principal contractors on taxpayer-funded worksites to report suspected criminal behaviour.

But it cited no examples of corruption or criminal infiltration or hold any official or politician accountable.

Geoffrey Watson SC, appointed by Irving to probe wrongdoing in the sector, called the Victorian review “hopeless” and accused the state Labor government of a “cover-up”.

“I disagree,” Allan said.

“We moved quickly last year with a zero-tolerance approach.”

-AAP