source : the age
CPB Queensland and Papua New Guinea general manager Vince Sanfilippo is now being shown video footage of a group of masked figures blocking access to the project’s Albert Street station site during a critical point in concrete works in April 2023.
A man described by counsel assisting the inquiry Edward Gisonda as a “CFMEU organiser” – former MMA fighter Eben Cox, named in the inquiry last week – identifies himself to police by name as a representative of the group in body camera footage.
The group had been asked to leave by project staff because they were disrupting the flow of trucks into the site, but had refused, Sanfilippo’s statement notes. Police were said to have not intervened because they “had to meet the crowd halfway”.
While Cox made reference to what CPB are “doing in there”, the protest was described to police – as Gisonda summarised – as “a climate change related protest against, among other things, laying down concrete in cities”.
There was no mention of the CFMEU or identifying clothing worn by the group.
Sanfilippo’s statement notes the result of the action was a cancellation of the concrete pour, adding a delay of 12 days. The works were being carried out by subcontractor Rocktown, which was not aligned with the CFMEU.
The inquiry will now break for lunch until 2pm.
The inquiry has now been walking through a report prepared by Sanfilippo and given to the delivery authority in August 2024 attempting to lay out the financial stress that aspects of the Cross River Rail project was experiencing.
Amid inflation and other pressures, as part of this work, the contractors sought to estimate the cost to the project of the CFMEU’s campaigns and the government’s introduction of the best practice industry conditions policy.
“The IR [industrial relations] component of this we calculated at $580 million at that point in time. And then there’s also a future-looking component to it, which we had to estimate in this report,” Sanfilippo said, using productivity impacts.
“We quantified [this] could be in a range of $100 to $400 million and we adopted a midpoint of that, which was $250 million.
Sanfilippo has spelled out some more details of the pressure seeming to come from the highest levels of the former Labor government to strike a deal with the CFMEU-led Building Trades Group of unions on the project.
It was late June 2019 and towards the end of a crunch week in which CPB, as part of the Cross River Rail consortia, was trying to finalise its contract with the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority before the financial year’s end.
Under fledgling “best practice principles” of the government, the contractors were required to either strike union agreements or demonstrate “best endeavours” to achieve them for financial sign-off for early works to begin.
Building unions were still at this stage pushing for a single agreement over the whole project or to be included in the AWU tunnel agreement with the rest to themselves, and seeking to pull rates and conditions from the wildly different Queen’s Wharf casino development.
In a meeting with authority chief executive Graeme Newton and staffer Matthew Martyn-Jones – previously described as a “conduit” to then deputy premier Jackie Trad’s office – on June 27, Sanfilippo and colleagues were advised their commitments given the day prior were not enough.
Jason Clare, the minister for education in the Albanese federal government, was asked this morning about the news that Mark Irving was stepping down as administrator of the CFMEU.
“Mr Irving has done a good job in very, very difficult circumstances. I think you’d be aware that he’s had two heart attacks in recent times,” he told reporters.
“He’ll still play an important role there in overseeing that union as special counsel, but I would expect that the person who succeeds him in that role as administrator will continue that work in cleaning that union up.”
He said his government was committed to continuing the clean-up of the scandal-plagued organisation, despite the lack of charges being laid so far.
The inquiry, so far, is retreading a lot of evidence heard from senior CPB figure Vince Sanfilippo’s colleague last month, but beyond that there has been another development.
After last week’s evidence that former Labor minister Grace Grace had threatened to tear up a $1.5 billion contract on the Toowoomba Bypass project if contractors failed to make peace with the union, Grace now has legal representation before the probe.
Grace’s legal team includes Adrian Duffy KC and Kylie Hillard as counsel, with instruction from David Quinn of Thomson Geer.
Being granted leave to appear allows Grace or her representatives to make submissions as part of public hearings, and cross-examine witnesses. Grace is the first former government minister to have leave granted.
Senior staff for Queensland’s inquiry into the CFMEU have criticised the suggestion of its departing federal government-appointed administrator Mark Irving KC that the union is moving to a new “rebuilding” phase.
After this masthead broke news of his departure yesterday, Irving said in a statement that he would hand over to respected union boss Michael Crosby – most recently overseeing a clean-out of the NSW branch – for this work.
Giving some brief opening remarks on the matter, senior counsel assisting the inquiry Edward Gisonda SC said that the work to investigate past wrongdoing in Queensland was “nowhere near complete”.
“It is a mistake, in my submission, to think that proper rebuilding can occur without the full understanding that only a commission of inquiry can deliver,” Gisonda said.
Brisbane’s Cross River Rail project is back in the inquiry’s sights this week, after evidence last month of the CFMEU’s years-long campaign of pressure to try to get its way on the $9.8 billion passenger rail works.
The former Labor government was also said to have “swayed the negotiating balance” in early stages of contract negotiations, according to evidence from both the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority boss and a former executive with major contractor CPB.
On the witness list this week is Vince Sanfilippo, the firm’s general manager for Queensland and Papua New Guinea, along with senior industrial relations and human resources staff.
Graeme Silvester, an executive general manager with CPB’s parent firm, CIMIC Group, is slated to appear too.
As senior HR figure at global civil construction firm Ghella, involved in the project, is also expected to be called to give evidence.
Just jumping into the inquiry? Need a refresher on the ground covered so far?
Here’s a recap of the powerful probe’s work to date.
The Crisafulli government launched the $19.7 million probe after reporting by this masthead and 60 Minutes into criminality, corruption and misconduct in the union and sector nationwide.
Due to provide a final report by July 31, the inquiry under Commissioner Stuart Wood has also faced questions of its own amid government attacks against the union and former Labor government.
