Union royal commission: Mirvac billed for union ‘fight night’

Mirvac has been portrayed as a front for ­secret payments to the construction union in Queensland.

Plumber Lucas Nicoll, right, leaves the union royal commission hearings in Brisbane. Picture: Jack Tran.

Construction giant Mirvac has been portrayed as a front for ­secret payments to the construction union in Queensland, indirectly paying for union “fight night” tickets and donating to a union “family day”.

The trade union royal commission yesterday heard a plumber was directed to buy $4000 worth of tickets to a construction union “fight night” and to bill the cost back to building giant Mirvac for “excavation of rocks” at an Ipswich project.

At the time, plumber Lucas Nicoll and one of his employees were carrying out piping and fitting work for free at a house of union leader David Hanna, as a favour to an Ipswich project manager and Mirvac.

The commission also heard of at least one donation — of $1100 — being paid by Mirvac for a union “family day”.

The revelations at yesterday’s hearing in Brisbane came as it emerged that Mr Hanna, a former construction union national president, asked for payments from employers to help pay for another union organiser’s IVF treatment, prompting his resignation from the union leadership.

An internal investigation by the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union this year confirmed Mr Hanna garnered funds from subcontractors for IVF treatment for an organiser, Mick Myles.

Mr Hanna abruptly quit last month. The CFMEU confirmed yesterday that the resignation was not related to the allegations aired in the royal commission.

It’s understood Mr Hanna asked organisers earlier this year to solicit payments from subcontractors DB Scaffolding and Global HR and pay the money into an account owned by the Builders Labourers Federation Foundation charity.

Mr Hanna agreed to resign after the investigation by union official Leo Skourdoumbis confirmed the payments broke CFMEU rules. Mr Myles has also resigned.

The royal commission heard yesterday that Mathew McAllum, a project manager at Mirvac’s Springfield Shopping Centre, known as the “Orion project”, first requested Mr ­Nicoll’s help to do plumbing work at Mr Hanna’s house at a meeting at the construction giant’s Brisbane offices. At the time, Mr Nicoll assumed the house belonged to someone at Mirvac and agreed to do it as a “networking” opportunity.

Later, he received an email from Mr McAllum referring to Mr Hanna’s Builders Labourers Federation — later absorbed into the CFMEU — with the subject line “BLF fight night 2013”. “Please claim as a variation excavation in rock,” the email allegedly said. “Cost plus 10 per cent.”

Mr Nicoll told the commission that he bought 20 tickets for the event at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, and invoiced Mirvac for “excavation in rock”.

Another person involved in the Orion project, who agreed to help buy and install air conditioning at Mr Hanna’s luxury four-bedroom mansion, Ben Carter, told the commission that Mr McAllum had asked him to buy tickets to a Melbourne Cup marquee event and bill it back as work done at the site — which he refused do.