Organised crime boss George Alex boasted the CFMEU deemed his firms “untouchable” on building sites because union officials needed their “kickers”, according to police surveillance.
The covert police recordings of Alex capture him at his luxury beachside apartment in Surfers Paradise telling disgraced Kiwi businessman and co-conspirator Mark Bryers the CFMEU would not touch his labour hire firms in an industrial scrap with Multiplex.
Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has twice been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 14 Walkley Awards, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs, human rights and criminal justice. Email Nick at nickmckenzie@protonmail.com
