AWU chief Stacey Schinnerl tells inquiry of alleged abuse in front of son
A powerful union leader fears becoming a “bigger target” after revealing how CFMEU officials allegedly intimidated her and her child at a public event.
Powerful Queensland union boss Stacey Schinnerl broke down while recounting an incident in which she was allegedly verbally abused in front of her teenage son by a CFMEU official at a Labour Day march in Brisbane.
Ms Schinnerl, the Australian Workers’ Union Queensland state secretary, recounted her version of the altercation as she took the stand at the CFMEU inquiry for the second consecutive day.
The incident – discussed a few times throughout the inquiry – occurred in 2023 at the RNA Showgrounds.
Ms Schinnerl told the inquiry a man in a CFMEU shirt and full face paint approached her and said: “How do you f---in’ like this?”
Ms Schinnerl said she told him to “jog on”, but he continued approaching her, calling her “weak”.
“I wanted him to go. I was immediately alert to my child sitting there and I didn’t want him to witness this,” she said.
“I said, ‘leave – this is my child. Don’t do this here’.”
As she stood up to force the man out of the marquee, she noticed another CFMEU figure whom she believed to be Jade Ingham watching nearby.
Ms Schinnerl said she and the CFMEU man in full face paint advanced on each other and “very much ended up chest to chest”.
She became emotional as she described trying to shield her son.
“It felt like he was trying to get past me to my child.
“And he said, ‘How does it feel to know your mum’s a f---ing grub who sells out workers’.”
While the man left, Ms Schinnerl said she was then followed by a separate group of men as she tried to leave the showgrounds.
She told the inquiry she confronted the closest one.
“The next five seconds is going to be very impactful on your life and mine. You can continue to be a d--k … or you can leave me the f--k alone,” Ms Schinnerl told the inquiry.
She said the man backed away after another man yelled, “just leave it”.
Ms Schinnerl told the inquiry she raised concerns with police about safely exiting the precinct but felt the officer she approached was “not particularly interested”.
Ms Schinnerl said she believed former CFMEU leaders Michael Ravbar and Mr Ingham still knew where she lived and feared she may become a “bigger target” after giving evidence at this inquiry.
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Originally published as AWU chief Stacey Schinnerl tells inquiry of alleged abuse in front of son
