CFMEU ‘captured’ former head of Queensland building commission: inquiry

Queensland’s powerful inquiry into the CFMEU will this week hear its first evidence of the union’s capture of the state building and construction commission, senior staff say.

Dimitri Ternovski, counsel assisting the inquiry, told the hearing on Tuesday morning that former Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) boss Brad Bassett told staff to target specific contractors in response to union complaints.

The inquiry into the union and misconduct in the construction sector will also continue its exploration of the alleged “capture” of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, with more evidence around the actions of a key figure previously described as a “friend of the CFMEU”.

“Not only was [ousted former leadership figure Jade] Ingham appointed to the QBCC board in 2018, but it appears the commissioner himself was captured,” Ternovski said.

“There’s a direct interaction between the capture of the WHSQ and the apparent capture of QBCC, and this is because the CFMEU and Mr Ingham ought to rely on the informed notice issued to WHSQ to then get QBCC to take licensing action against contractors.

“Thus, the CFMEU first used its capture of WHSQ to direct inspectors to attend sites of particular contractors it was targeting, and then issue enforcement notices, and then the CFMEU sought to use these very notices, coupled with its influence over the QBCC, to get QBCC to take licensing action against the same contractor, so it was a double whammy.”

The inquiry will this week hear evidence from Office of Industrial Relations executive Andrea Fox, former QBCC licensing manager Graham Easterby, and the former deputy director-general overseeing OIR, Kym Bancroft.

The Crisafulli government launched the $19.7 million probe last year after reporting by this masthead and 60 Minutes into criminality, corruption and misconduct in the union and construction sector nationwide.