CFMEU inquiry live: Health and safety inspectors back on stand in construction union probe

Having already heard from the CFMEU administration, union and industry figures, the commission of inquiry returned yesterday to kick off another three-day block, this time to ask questions of current and former Workplace Health and Safety Queensland staff.

In his opening remarks, senior counsel assisting, Patrick Wheelahan KC, said the questions related to a case study “that there was regulatory capture of the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland by the CFMEU during the period that Ms Grace Grace was the minister for industrial relations”.

“We use the term ‘regulatory capture’ in this case study to mean a form of institutional corruption,” he continued. This would add to three other instances of regulatory capture already detailed in part before the inquiry, or still being looked into, Wheelahan said.

Such matters included the development and implementation of the Best Practice Industry Conditions policies; a memorandum of understanding between police and the Office of Industrial Relations; and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

We heard of concerns raised with the corruption watchdog about the safety regulator and Grace, then began hearing evidence from the first of this week’s witnesses: Workplace Health and Safety Queensland operations manager Deborah Dargan.

Dargan told the inquiry yesterday that things began to shift in her office after the election of the Palaszczuk government in 2015, then again after Helen Burgess became construction compliance and field services director in 2018, with prosecution for right-of-entry breaches drying up and complaints from the CFMEU treated as higher priority.

Just jumping into the inquiry? Need a refresher on the ground covered so far? Here’s a bit of a recap of the powerful probe’s work to date.

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

Due to provide a final report by July 31, the inquiry under Commissioner Stuart Wood has also faced questions of its own amid government attacks against the union and former Labor government.

Last week: Senior inquiry staff held an unusual media conference outside a Gold Coast traffic management company they said they would be looking into over its potential links to Melbourne underworld identity Mick Gatto. (The company says it wasn’t given a heads-up about the visit, and insists everything is above board.) Inquiry staff also said they had “uncovered more than we expected” when asked if they would need a time extension.

Last month: The inquiry held its first (of 10) three-day public hearing blocks for the year, with evidence from a senior civil construction industry figure and the CFMEU administrators former corruption-busting barrister. There was much focus on the latter’s recent Victorian-focused report, but also accusations that a former Labor minister directed his department to negotiate with the union.

Late last year: Across two weeks of hearings in November and December, the inquiry heard from government-appointed CFMEU administration figures about the former leadership’s use of violence to expand their “fiefdom” into civil construction. A second hearing block delved deeper into the why, how and who, driven by two union leaders on the receiving end, or in the middle of, the building union’s alleged efforts.