CFMEU Qld-NT: Report blows lid off militant union’s culture of coercion
The CFMEU’s quest for power in Queensland saw it wage a deliberate campaign of violence, coercion and threatened abuse – including against women and children.
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Militant construction union the CFMEU deliberately used violence, coercion and threatened abuse – including against women and children – in its pursuit of power in Queensland.
A landmark investigation into the shocking activities of the Queensland branch of the CFMEU by anti-corruption expert Geoffrey Watson SC also reveals former leaders Michael Ravbar and Jade Ingham purposely designed the union’s structure for political and financial gain.
The 45-page report, obtained exclusively by The Courier-Mail, was ordered by union administrator Mark Irving KC.
The extensive three-month investigation confirmed the CFMEU deliberately caused fear and used violence in its pursuit of political, industrial and financial power.
Mr Watson SC warned the CFMEU violence in Queensland would get worse unless it was stopped.
■ Complete history of the CFMEU across Qld
“The CFMEU is ruthless – it will crush anyone offering any resistance to it,” Mr Watson wrote.
“The conduct of the CFMEU has required some of their targets to quit their jobs, to move their homes, and to seek medical assistance.
“The CFMEU has ruined careers and caused long lasting emotional and financial damage to its opponents.”
The report lays bares a long list of violent acts perpetrated CFMEU members at Queensland construction sites, the intimidation of politicians and the war waged against the Australian Workers Union.
But those at the top of the CFMEU have steadfastly denied there are any problems — a claim Mr Watson described as laughable.
“I was told repeatedly by organisers that they had never seen any violence emanating from the CFMEU. That is laughable given the extensive court findings and the irrefutable video evidence,” Mr Watson stated.
There is no suggestion that Mr Ravbar or Mr Ingham committed acts of violence.
Despite 55 interviews with CFMEU officials and members, other trade unionists, politicians, bureaucrats, building contractors, representatives from employers’ associations, bystanders and victims of the abuse and examining “extensive” video and photographic evidence, Mr Watson said he feared his investigation “only scratched the surface”.
Several former delegates and members declined to be interviewed, including Mr Ravbar and Mr Ingham, while others invoked their right to refuse to answer questions to avoid self-incrimination.
There are five broad categories or areas where the CFMEU spread its violence according to Mr Watson’s report — against the government, against Work Health and Safety inspectors, the Australian Workers’ Union, employers and employer organisations, and against women.
Shocking examples of abuse, threatening and violent behaviour -including several incidents reported by this masthead- are littered throughout the report, including a workplace health and safety officer being harassed by three strangers while he attended a funeral.
Others included an inspector being followed by a CFMEU member holding a live angle grinder.
“Things became so bad for the WHS inspectors that they had to introduce their own safe work practices to protect themselves from the CFMEU,” the report stated.
Those practices included introducing a buddy system for site inspections and body worn cameras.
In 2021, a CFMEU organiser threatened a man’s life at the Boggo Road Cross River Rail site, telling him: “We know where you live” and “There’s a bullet with your name on it – we’re gonna get you’”.
The same year, a hoax bomb threat was made at a West End construction site.
In two separate 2022 incidents, CFMEU members stormed the office off the Department of Main Roads and Transport causing $25,000 worth of damage, and the Spring Hill office of Master Builders Australia – both times sending the buildings into lockdown.
Women and children were not spared, with the report detailing an incident in 2022 when CFMEU protesters outside an office pressed on the glass walls and called out to young women including saying “come out here and I’ll f*** you”.
In another instance in 2020, a female public servant who was at the CFMEU offices as part of a delegation was separated from her colleagues then allegedly berated by Mr Ravbar including saying she “should be dragged out of here”.
Mr Watson said there was a clear culture of misogyny, bullying and violence that flourished in the Queensland CFMEU under the Ravbar-Ingham leadership.
Administrator Mark Irving KC slammed the “perverted model” of misogynistic culture that was openly “celebrated” in the Queensland branch and said these revelations had taken so long to come out partly due to fear of retribution by those targeted.
“There must be an acceptance and acknowledgment that the culture that prevailed under the old Ravbar-Ingham leadership was violent, cruel and misogynist and betrayed the core values of unionism,” he said.
“Family members were treated as fair game for abuse, threats and intimidation. That meant that the children of those deemed to be enemies of the Union were targeted for abuse.
“Those responsible were so arrogant and believed themselves to be so untouchable that the evidence against them is overwhelming.”
Deputy Premier and Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie commended the men and women who told their stories to the review.
“The CFMEU’s culture of violence, bullying and intimidation is systemic and sinister,” he said.
“They have been operating under an unlawful business model for close to a decade and now it’s coming to end.”
Federal Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said the report’s accounts were “horrific and reprehensible”.
“There is no place for this kind of violence and misogyny in Australian workplaces,” she said.
However, Mr Watson reported that despite the extreme examples of violence, CFMEU members showed little willingness to change.
“Those officials I interviewed were steadfast in denying that there was any problem at all,” he said.
The report makes seven recommendations and calls for the administration’s response to be swift and ensure long-lasting change, and warned the solution would involve the immediate removal of some officials.
Originally published as CFMEU Qld-NT: Report blows lid off militant union’s culture of coercion
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