Disgusting allegations of abuse towards women by CFMEU members
“I didn’t want to see it reprinted … in case these perverts got some pleasure out of reading what they’ve done”: The corruption buster behind the landmark CFMEU inquiry reveals the claims he couldn’t bring himself to publish.
Disgusting allegations of abuse towards women by CFMEU members including an incident where a female public servant was spat were deemed too horrible to publish by corruption-buster Geoffrey Watson SC.
In a dramatic second day of hearings at the Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU and Misconduct in the Construction Industry, Mr Watson revealed he left out a “considerable amount” of evidence relating to abuse against women to help protect their identities.
This includes an account from one woman which Mr Watson described as “especially disgusting” and another incident where a woman was allegedly spat on by a CFMEU official.
“It was horrible, the way she was treated,” he said.
“In some ways, I didn’t want to see it reprinted something that was going out under my name to reprint these in case these perverts got some pleasure out of reading what they’ve done.”
The inquiry also heard details of an incident in 2020 when former CFMEU leader Michael Ravbar was alleged to have locked a female government employee in an office.
Mentioned in Mr Watson’s report, the female public servant was visiting the CFMEU office in Bowen Hills with a colleague when the pair were separated and the woman was allegedly locked in an office with Mr Ravbar who screamed at her for “15 minutes”.
According to the report, Mr Ravbar allegedly told the woman she “should be dragged out of here” and “we’re after you” while he stood in front of the locked door to prevent her from leaving.
“As it was recounted to me, was that the woman came in as part of the delegation, she was separated by Royce Kupsch, and then later, Ravbar came in, closed the door behind him,” Mr Watson told the inquiry.
Mr Kupsch flatly denied his involvement in the allegations.
Mr Ravbar did not respond to Mr Watson but issued a statement following the reports release, calling the allegations “baseless”.
“It did not occur,” he said.
“The only doors that lock in that office self-lock as a matter of security, including to prevent people from entering meeting rooms without a security fob. They do not operate to lock people in.”
Mr Watson told the inquiry that Mr Ravbar’s description of the door’s function matched the witness testimony.
“You could close it from the inside and lock it so that it would be locked to any outsider coming into the room, but a person already in the room could just turn the handle and get out,” he said.
“She came out and said, “let’s get out of here”. They got a cab as quickly as they could from Bowen Hills back to their office, which is in the centre of the city.
“When she was back in the city, she made a report about it.”
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Originally published as Disgusting allegations of abuse towards women by CFMEU members
