CFMEU commissioner accuses Qld police of taking side of 'law-breakers'

The commissioner leading an inquiry into the CFMEU has accused police of failing to "enforce the law" at a 2024 union blockade on a major Brisbane construction site. Body-worn camera footage played at the inquiry shows police did not remove any CFMEU officials from the site where two lanes of traffic were blocked during peak hour. What's next? The inquest continues with the current block of hearings set running until tomorrow. A commissioner leading Queensland's inquiry into the CFMEU has accused police of failing to "enforce the law" during a high-profile union blockade on a major Brisbane construction site. Project director Leigh Hahn, formerly with construction giant BMD, gave evidence about the union's "relentless" national campaign against the contractor on the Centenary Bridge upgrade in Brisbane's west. Mr Hahn was questioned over a March 2024 blockade in which dozens of CFMEU members prevented access to the worksite to protest BMD's alleged use of Chinese steel. He refuted the union's claims that the steel was imported illegally, telling the inquiry the product met all necessary regulatory and safety requirements. Queensland police were called to the site after a delivery truck blocked two lanes of traffic during peak-hour but did not remove any CFMEU officials, with new body-worn camera footage played to the inquiry. Commissioner Stuart Wood KC was highly critical of the police response, saying they had failed in their "fundamental obligation" to "enforce the law". "The role of the police is to keep the peace, which means enforce the law, which means to … not allow a group of blockaders to prevent access," Commissioner Wood said. "They either don't understand what their job is or they've been directed not to perform their job." Commissioner Wood said police "took the side of the law-breakers". "The law was being broken, it seems, on your evidence … it looked like very straight up and down situation where people with no lawful right were preventing free access … from a site you controlled," Commissioner Wood said. "The rule of the law wasn't applied. The rule of the mob operated," he said. Mr Hahn told the hearing the union's sustained campaign against the contractor choked the $353 million infrastructure project. "The best way to describe this project [at that time] was we were being "strangled'," he said. [Image text:] 2024-03-13 06:37:15 +1000 AX0N B0DY3X60505338 ASACKR CTMEU