Bleijie seeks second ‘secret’ CFMEU report dismissed by ousted leaders

The news

Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie will push for access to a second unpublished version of the investigation conducted for the administrator of the state CFMEU and what has been described as a “culture of violence” within the union.

While the private version of the report was intended only for administrator Mark Irving KC in order to protect witnesses, Bleijie told journalists on Thursday that its author had suggested it also featured an “unredacted list … of union officials”.

Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie also accused members of the former Labor government of enabling the union’s actions.Credit: Jamila Filippone

Bleijie’s vow to “turn the CFMEU upside down and shake it out” was followed hours later by an outright rejection of the report’s findings by the two ousted leadership figures criticised in the report.

The pair, former secretary Michael Ravbar and assistant secretary Jade Ingham, allege the report also misrepresented the nature of their response to the investigations request to interview them.

Why it matters

The 45-page report, published online on Wednesday evening with some names and details redacted, conveys the findings of a three-month investigation that its author, barrister Geoffrey Watson SC, said might only scratch the surface of violence in the union.

Watson’s investigation was commissioned by Irving in February, after the federal-government initiated administration sacked dozens of officials nationwide following revelations of corruption and bikie links against figures in Victoria and NSW.

Bleijie, also the state’s Industrial Relations Minister and former Newman government attorney-general, has acted quickly since the October state election to wind back some workplace access rights and blame union-friendly procurement policies for high construction costs.

What they said

The public report, which Bleijie noted had been shared with police, featured redacted names of current and former CFMEU staff and officials described as being “especially important” to the investigation, but who largely declined to be interviewed or were “deliberately unhelpful”.

Bleijie said he would now seek the “secret” report and its list of names to ensure state – and potentially federal – workplace regulators could take any available action against individuals.

“I’m hopeful that those details will be able to be given to the [Queensland] Office of Industrial Relations, because as a regulator ... they can’t take action unless we know who they [the union officials] are,” he said.

“We need to turn the CFMEU upside down and shake it out.” Bleijie also accused members of the former Labor government of enabling the union’s actions and suggested those mentioned in the report who were also subjected to threats “cry me a river”.

Another perspective

Ravbar and Ingham wholly rejected the report’s accusations in a statement issued later on Thursday via the group established to aid their recently failed High Court challenge of the administration.

“It is riddled with errors, based on selective and untested accounts, and falls far short of the standard you would expect for such serious allegations,” the pair wrote, also saying their refusal to be interviewed was due to a denied request for details of the matters to be discussed with them.

Irving has been contacted for comment.

Speaking at a media conference in Cairns, Labor opposition leader Steven Miles described the behaviour outlined as “deeply concerning” and suggested “the reason we have this report is because we insisted that Queensland should be included in the administration”.

Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King said while the CFMEU had not been affiliated with the peak body since 2018, its actions harmed trust in all unions, urging Ravbar and Ingham to accept and apologise for their actions while allowing the union to “better itself for its members”.

“Being a union leader is a privilege not a right … only a select number of people get to have that privilege,” King said.

“The conduct and behaviour that is outlined in the report is not union.”

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