The Labor Party has protected and enabled the militant CFMEU for a decade and should now explain why they let this systemic violence including the abuse of women and children go unchecked for so long.
Labor MPs Grace Grace, Shannon Fentiman and Mick de Brenni are not victims, they are enablers.
They were the getaway drivers for the CFMEU’s protection racket.
In her 2015 maiden speech, Fentiman even thanked Michael Ravbar and the CFMEU as Grace, the former Industrial Relations Minister, allowed the embattled union to take control of the government.
Opposition Leader Steven Miles needs to explain why he changed policy as Premier to allow ministerial meetings with the CFMEU again, while rushing through laws that enabled the CFMEU just before the last state election.
‘There’s a bullet with your name on it’, ‘We know where you live’, ‘We know you have two sons’; these were just some of the terrifying experiences of CFMEU opponents, laid bare in Geoffrey Watson’s ‘Violence in the Queensland CFMEU’ report.
I was particularly horrified by a 2020 incident in which a female public servant was locked in a room of the CFMEU offices and berated by Ravbar for 15 minutes while a “big man” blocked the door so she couldn’t escape.
I want to again thank the brave men and women who told their stories despite the fear of retribution.
The CFMEU’s militant behaviour must be condemned at every level, and I call on the Labor Party to explain why they allowed this systemic horror to go unchecked for a decade.
This report vindicates every victim of the CFMEU, including those who were chastised by the Labor Party.
Unlike Labor, we have zero tolerance for the CFMEU’s culture of violence, bullying and intimidation and are delivering the change needed to restore safety and the rule of law on Queensland construction sites.
I want to thank all Office of Industrial Relations staff for the incredible work they do to keep our construction sites across Queensland safe and I want them to know that this Government has their back.