CFMEU heavyweight committal hearing: Boral executive risks incriminating himself in court
A BORAL executive at the centre of a blackmail scandal has unwittingly risked incriminating himself in court after admitting he destroyed notes he took at a supposedly “off-the-record” meeting with CFMEU bosses John Setka and Shaun Reardon.
Law & Order
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A BORAL executive at the centre of a CFMEU blackmail scandal has unwittingly risked incriminating himself in court.
Paul Dalton admitted he destroyed notes he took at a supposedly “off-the-record” meeting at a cafe with union bosses John Setka and Shaun Reardon in April 2013.
The union heads are accused of blackmailing Mr Dalton and colleague Peter Head during the meeting as the union fought to see its own officials appointed as OH&S representatives on Grocon sites.
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The controversial notes were originally deemed by Boral’s in-house lawyers as “irrelevant”, but 15 months later used by police to lay blackmail charges.
The accused men allegedly threatened to blockade Boral plants and stop its trucks as the union war on Grocon over OH&S issues intensified.
In bizarre scenes at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, Mr Dalton was warned by Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg not to answer any questions that “may incriminate him” until he’d been issued an indemnity certificate.
The Section 128 certificate is usually reserved for low-level junkies and thieves who routinely incriminate themselves while giving testimony against bigger crooks.
With certificate in hand, anything they say cannot be used against them as long as they’re being truthful.
Yet Mr Dalton answered a question about whether he destroyed his notes in the positive again, forcing the bemused magistrate to retrospectively issue the certificate and have him answer the question yet again.
Mr Dalton told the court he destroyed the original notes, but retained scanned copies of them in a PDF file.
Neil Clelland QC, for Mr Reardon, accused the executive of destroying the original documents knowing full well they might be needed for upcoming court proceedings — an offence under the Crimes Act.
He further asserted Mr Dalton had plotted to entrap the union bosses into making comments that could see them held in contempt of a Supreme Court injunction issued against the union’s blockades on Boral just prior to the April 23 meeting at a cafe in North Melbourne.
Mr Dalton was forced to seek legal advice again after it was revealed the scanned PDF of his notes was created on June 12 the following year — the very same Boral later told the Royal Commission into trade unions that its in-house lawyer had been alerted to the notes’ existence.
Mr Dalton said he destroyed the notes that day after discussing their content with the in-house lawyer.
While seeking advice, Robert Richter QC, for Mr Setka, suggested the magistrate warn Mr Dalton about the consequences of lying under oath, particularly if it were to be revealed he not only scanned and destroyed the notes that day, but created them.
The hearing continues.
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