Minister Kate Jones ‘sells out state workers’, says Michael Ravbar

Michael Ravbar has accused State Development Minister Kate Jones of selling out Queenslanders through the $5.4bn Cross River Rail infrastructure project.

CFMEU Queensland boss Michael Ravbar said Ms Jones could ‘use the same playbook as Jackie Trad and pretend everything is fine, or she can fix this’. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Queensland Labor powerbroker and union heavyweight Michael Ravbar has attacked State Development Minister Kate Jones, accusing her of selling out Queenslanders through the government’s biggest infrastructure project, the $5.4bn Cross River Rail.

Mr Ravbar’s CFMEU will run a newspaper advertising campaign on Monday, alleging Ms Jones has allowed the project’s contractor to underdeliver on jobs, employ labour hire or interstate workers, give contracts to NSW companies, and commit safety breaches.

The ads show Ms Jones in a NSW Blues State of Origin Jersey.

“This job should play a pivotal role in Queensland’s economic recovery from COVID-19, but not if local workers and subbies continue to be sold out to the lowest bidder,” Mr Ravbar’s open letter reads. “Minister, you have the power to fix this, and to apply your government’s own ‘best practice’ policy.

“It’s time to stand up for the state you claim to represent.”

State Development Minister Kate Jones. Picture: Jerad Williams

Mr Ravbar said Ms Jones could “use the same playbook as (former deputy premier) Jackie Trad and pretend everything is fine, or she can fix this”.

Ms Jones took responsibility for the massive public transport project — being built by contractor CPB — when Ms Trad was ­demoted over an integrity scandal. The CFMEU has agitated against both ministers, after being negotiated out of an industrial agreement with CPB.

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority strongly rejected Mr Ravbar’s claims. Ms Jones said: “Despite COVID-19 shutting down many workplaces, we’ve been able to press on with Cross River Rail, keeping thousands of people in jobs. What I want to see on this project is local workers and local companies benefiting.”

CRRDA’s Matthew Martyn-Jones said at the end of May there were 2180 workers on the project, many more than the 350-400 claimed by Mr Ravbar.

Mr Martyn-Jones said the workforce was overwhelmingly local, with 97 per cent of workers residents of Queensland.

He said there had not been a single lost-time injury on the project, despite 1.5 million hours having been worked across the sites so far.

Mr Martyn-Jones said Mr Ravbar’s suggestion that NSW firm Motorway Civil had been engaged was correct but that works would be carried out by a works crew based on the Gold Coast and staffed by Brisbane residents.