Safety director admits misleading Brisbane bosses to avoid CFMEU

A senior Cairns safety officer admitted misleading his Brisbane-based bosses about his delaying tactics in dealing with the CFMEU to protect his inspectors from intimidation, the inquiry into the union was told.

In his second day of testimony on Thursday, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland regional director Paul Smith eventually admitted to being dishonest with his superiors about a “delay, delay, delay” strategy he had in place to limit interactions with the union.

Chris O’Grady KC, representing CFMEU administrators, evoked Newton’s third law of motion – that every action has an equal and opposite reaction – in suggesting that strategy may have been a contributing factor in the CFMEU’s on-site behaviour.

Smith did not accept that suggestion.

“I don’t think frustration could give the excuse to behave poorly,” he said.

Smith’s delaying tactics, in which he would tell Brisbane-based WHSQ directors Helen Burgess and Marc Dennett that inspectors had to travel long distances, would result in them arriving on-site after 2pm, when the CFMEU had usually departed.

During his previous day’s testimony, Smith accused Burgess of working for the CFMEU, suggesting either an ideological alignment or financial gain.

After some at times testy to-and-forth, Smith eventually conceded he had been dishonest with the Brisbane officials.

“I did that for good reason because they wouldn’t have supported me, so I had to deal with what I had at the time,” he said.

O’Grady: “I understand that, but what I’m putting to you is that you weren’t honest with Ms Burgess and Mr Dennett when you told them the reason why you couldn’t send inspectors was because of geographical constraints.”

Smith: “I was being honest to my inspectors. I wasn’t being honest to people who I thought were doing the wrong thing and were doing the bidding of the CFMEU, who at the time were operating like a racketeering organisation.”

Earlier in his testimony, Smith compared the union’s conduct in Cairns to organised crime.

“A number of executive directors and deputy directors generally refer to Michael Ravbar as a psychopath – he was just really bad-behaved,” he said.

“They just used to try to say they copped the abuse too, but that was no comfort for the inspectors on site and if they were copping that abuse, they should have said, ‘well, we’re not going to engage with you guys’.

“… It just shows to me that it was a lack of leadership from the CFMEU, how they engaged in that bad behaviour. That was their tactic, that was their business plan.

“They operated like the Italian mafia and the Russian mafia. They had a real confrontational approach, and we accepted that within [the Office of Industrial Relations], which is very, very disappointing. Our leadership accepted that bad behaviour.”

Smith said it was “disappointing” there had not been apology for that acceptance from leadership within the Office of Industrial Relations, of which WHSQ is a part.

“Now, there was one thing about the CFMEU misbehaving, but there was another thing about us accepting that behaviour and the lack of support for the inspectors, and that is very disappointing, and I’m very annoyed about it,” he said.

Smith said there had been a notable change since the CFMEU entered administration.

“We don’t cop that abuse now from the CFMEU under administration – they’re very well-behaved,” he said.

“They’re good to engage with, so that’s not occurring now.”

The inquiry continues.

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