source : the age
Former minister Grace Grace likely struck an agreement with the CFMEU to pause a union-opposed push by the workplace safety regulator for a new complaint triage system amid a campaign which effectively turned the head of that office into a call centre operator, her then-top bureaucrat says.
But former Education Department director-general Michael De’Ath has denied he dismissed his short-lived deputy in charge of the Office of Industrial Relations, Kym Bancroft, because of pressure from the CFMEU, in evidence to Queensland’s inquiry into the construction union and sector.
The inquiry has this week returned to a case study into regulatory capture of the office by the union, with three full days spent by counsel assisting Dimitri Ternovski questioning De’Ath over key concessions granted to the union during Bancroft’s time in the role between 2022 and 2023.
These included the retention of union official Kurt Pauls on the selection panel for an executive director overseeing workplace compliance and inspectors, the removal of Bancroft from that panel, and a halt on implementing the call triage system.
The inquiry has heard that the union’s campaign of calling Bancroft directly emerged after she sidelined a since-sacked “friend of the CFMEU”, Helen Burgess, and amid her efforts to address related cultural issues within the office.
Amid escalating hostilities by the union, a triage proposal from Bancroft – initially backed by De’Ath – was ultimately placed on what would be an indefinite pause after a meeting between Grace and key union figures including then state secretary Michael Ravbar.
De’Ath agreed on Thursday that he had shifted from his earlier evidence that the pause was his decision, instead categorising it as a collective one which emerged from a meeting with Grace.
Ternovski then took De’Ath to subsequent emails between his staff coordinating a response on behalf of Bancroft to an earlier letter from Ravbar, drafts of which featured language appearing to describe an “agreement” with the CFMEU about the triage pause.
Asked if this was an agreement he had struck with the union, De’Ath said it was not. Ternovski then asked if, looking at the documents, the best reconstruction of events De’Ath could make would be that this would have been between Grace and the CFMEU.
“Yes, I think that’s a logical conclusion,” De’Ath said. Commissioner Stuart Wood then questioned Ternovski about the merit of asking De’Ath’s opinion about the matter if he could not recall his discussion with Grace in the earlier meeting.
“Where I’m going with this, Commissioner, and what I want to ultimately put to Mr De’Ath, is that this correspondence ultimately sought to cover up the agreement by removing the reference to it, and we’ll see that in the final version of the letter,” Ternovski replied.
That proposition was not ultimately put to De’Ath. Elsewhere across the hearing, the former director-general rejected evidence given by Bancroft and one of her staff that he had told her when ending her contract in late April that it was due to union pressure.
He also denied that the fast-tracked push to remove Bancroft from the role was the result of similar pressure, or that he had considered an anonymous complaint about Bancroft leading to a corruption watchdog referral which factored into that dismissal could have come from the union.
Bancroft’s eventual successor, Peter McKay, was reluctant to take up the role due to the proximity to the CFMEU and has told the inquiry he became a defacto “call centre operator”.
De’Ath agreed it was because of this reluctance that he had to accept paying McKay about $80,000 more per year than Bancroft had been paid.
Despite having at one stage discussed upgrading the role to one of an associate director-general, rather than a deputy, De’Ath said this was not his decision to make and that while he did not recall, he “may have” taken this to Grace – who rejected the idea.
Lawyers for Grace indicated they may seek to cross-examine De’Ath when he returns to finish his evidence, likely during the next block of hearings to begin on November 24.
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Matt Dennien is a reporter at Brisbane Times covering state politics, parliament and the public sector. He has previously worked for newspapers in Tasmania and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him securely on Signal @mattdennien.15Connect via email.
