Queensland’s move on suspected Gatto firm heaps fresh pressure on Allan

A labour hire company named as a front for gangland figure Mick Gatto, and which has made millions of dollars on the Victorian government’s Big Build, has had its Gold Coast-based operation called out by a major Queensland inquiry.

In a move that could see the entities lose their operating licences, the Queensland commission of inquiry into the CFMEU held a press conference outside the offices of M1 Traffic Control Queensland to highlight concerns about its potential links to Gatto.

The appearance of commissioner Stuart Wood, KC, and senior counsel assisting his inquiry Patrick Wheelahan, KC, outside the offices of the company in Brisbane on Wednesday morning is highly unusual for such an inquiry.

In a media statement, the commission pointed to a report from corruption-busting lawyer Geoffrey Watson, KC, last month that found M Group was a well-known front company for Gatto and that it appeared a new company in Queensland was likewise linked.

Wood said no findings had been made about the entity, or any other, but appealed for information which he said would be treated confidentially, and procedural fairness provided to anyone under investigation.

Wheelahan told the media that the commission was not suggesting Gatto owned the company or that it had engaged in any misconduct.

But he did say he was concerned that Victoria’s experience with the Big Build, where Watson estimated $15 billion was misspent, could be repeated ahead of the Olympics.

“The money pot is clearly now going to be in Queensland in the build-up to the Olympics, I think it’s $130 billion that is going to be spent,” he said.

“It would be remiss of us not to investigate, on the back of [Watson’s] report, that one of the companies that he says is linked to Mick Gatto now sets up in Queensland, because Queensland does not want to end up like Victoria.”

The move highlights the decision of Victorian authorities to continue to allow M Group to keep operating in the southern state.

The Victorian government has insisted that it has taken enough action to clean up the construction industry in the wake of this masthead’s reporting but the M Group is still licensed to operate in the state.

The Watson report, tabled with the inquiry last month, said Gatto owned a number of companies within the M Group and that there was “no doubt” it received favourable treatment from the CFMEU.

He estimated one company in the group would earn $52 million in 2025.

“Gatto, of course, denies he owns the M Group companies, but that is transparently false. The attempts to conceal Gatto’s involvement are crude,” Watson’s report said.

The Queensland commission said M1 Traffic Control Queensland had similar ownership structures to other Gatto companies described by Watson.

Watson found that Gatto was a malignant influence and detailed several examples of what he said was “criminal conduct”.

Gatto has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and derided Watson’s findings publicly.

M1 Traffic Control is licensed by Queensland regulators as a labour hire operator, although the northern state’s authorities will almost certainly face pressure to review that licence in light of Wednesday’s press conference.

Victoria’s Labour Hire Authority first licensed the labour hire group in 2022 and renewed its licence last year.

The authority has limited powers, and even after a recent legislative boost it often cannot move on labour hire companies that have been identified by law enforcement or inquiries as having organised crime links or involvement in corruption.

However, it has cancelled the licences of dozens of construction companies, including those with links to gangland figures and bikies.

One company recently stripped of its licence, BK Labour, has appealed to the state’s administrative tribunal to have its licence reinstated, even as its owners are facing criminal charges laid by Victoria Police’s specialist Taskforce Hawk.

The moves come after this masthead revealed on Wednesday that the state’s Ombudsman had lashed the agency managing the Big Build for poor record keeping that had impeded its ability to investigate a whistleblower’s corruption allegation.

The Ombudsman’s concerns about the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority’s lax record keeping were revealed in a briefing note sent last month, which resulted in referrals to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog and auditor general.

“VIDA’s poor financial record keeping and reporting increases corruption risks, and there is a need to strengthen its governance and reporting mechanisms to allow for effective oversight and accountability,” the Ombudsman note said.

The Auditor General separately on Wednesday released a report that found the government was failing to keep Victorians informed on how its massive infrastructure projects were performing.

More to come

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