CFMEU inquiry lays bare alleged link between bikie gangs and construction sites

CFMEU inquiry examines connection between motorcycle gangs and Queensland construction sector In short: An inquiry into the Queensland branch of the CFMEU has heard allegations of bikie links in the construction industry this week. Much of the proceedings focused on an incident in 2024, when a member of the Comancheros gang threatened a crane operator at the Centenary Bridge Upgrade site in Jindalee. What's next? The inquiry will resume in Brisbane on Tuesday. Motorcycle groups trying to muscle into the Queensland construction sector have long been speculated about, but the connection was laid bare at this week's block of hearings into the CFMEU. The connection between outlaw motorcycle gangs and the construction sector, including the CFMEU, had been established in Victoria ahead of the militant union being placed into administration in 2024. But at the Queensland inquiry this week, it was not the CFMEU that had the alleged connections raised against them in the inquiry. It was people associated with one of the developers behind a major state government infrastructure project. That project was the Centenary Bridge upgrade at Jindalee in Brisbane's west. BMD Group and Georgiou group were the two main contractors on the project, which had been subject to ongoing disputes with the CFMEU. The state government estimated that disruption, along with other factors, blew out the cost of the project from $298 million to $353 million. In response to that dispute, BMD hired HOST, run by Gary Samuel, to provide security at the site. Threats at construction site Much of the week has focused on one specific incident on June 5 2024, when a member of the Comancheros allegedly threatened a crane operator on the construction site. Senior Counsel Assisting Eddy Gisonda said Mr Samuel had been on the phone and texting throughout the morning with senior management from contractor BMD, as well as Bemir Saracevic, the former national president of the Comancheros motorcycle gang. Mr Gisonda alleged it could be inferred through phone records that Mr Samuel then picked up Mr Saracevic and associates Krstomir Bjelogrlic and Mark Ahern from Brisbane Airport, where they arrived from Melbourne, and drove them near a construction site. CCTV footage played to the commission this week showed Mr Saracevic threatening CFMEU delegate Cody Raymond at the construction site. In a workplace interview about the incident, Mr Raymond said Mr Saracevic had said to him: "Do you know who the f*** I am ... Benji, from the Commos." "He responded with 'I'll f***en burn your house down c*** and kill your kids' brother … I f***en know where you live brother," he said. CCTV footage from before the incident captured BMD general managers Rob Pickard and Steve Thomas — who were both taking calls from Mr Samuel that morning — leaving a nearby sushi restaurant just minutes before the Comanchero members and Mr Samuel left the same restaurant. The footage showed the duo walking several metres ahead of the group and making hand gestures. It was put to both Mr Pickard and Mr Thomas they were signalling who Mr Raymond was to the group a few metres behind them. They both denied that suggestion and any knowledge or involvement in the alleged threats made to Mr Raymond. Mr Pickard also denied having conversations with Mr Samuel at the BMD head office earlier that day. CCTV footage access issues Queensland Police requested CCTV footage of the alleged incident in November 2024, but the inquiry heard they were told by BMD that footage from that time was unavailable. Mr Gisonda asked Mr Thomas whether he and Mr Pickard had discussed obtaining and deleting the CCTV footage. "I don't recall … I don't believe that's what we've done," Mr Thomas said. Gareth Davie, the corporate construction manager for Georgiou Group, told the inquiry that Mr Thomas was "a little concerned" about the CCTV footage and "wanted to lock it down". "So we ended up reducing [access] from ... 10 or 11 people that had access to it down to down to three," he said. But while the companies had locked down the footage, the inquiry heard project manager Quinn Murray had made a copy of the footage on the day as he felt there was something "fishy" going on. Mr Davie told the inquiry he agreed it was "pertinent to gather as much contemporaneous evidence as necessary". BMD manager caught in car with suspected bikie The commission was played footage of police undertaking a routine traffic stop in August 2025. Mr Thomas can be seen in that footage, alongside a man named William Samra. Loading...Mr Gisonda told the inquiry Mr Samra was believed to be a member of the Comancheros. "We were just having a social catch-up," Mr Thomas told the hearing. He said they were introduced by Mr Samra's father and had mutual friends, and he did not know Mr Samra was an alleged member of the Comancheros. 'Commercial push' from Comancheros Mr Gisonda told the inquiry on Wednesday unnamed intelligence agencies had information the Comancheros had already installed union delegates on construction sites in Victoria. "The Comancheros had taken measures over the preceding 12 months to establish their own companies that could operate in the construction industry in Victoria, most particularly labour hire companies," he said. "Victorian members of the Comancheros had travelled to Queensland in the months prior to May 2024 with the aim of achieving those two objectives in the state of Queensland as well." He said the intelligence was not union, site or contractor specific, but rather a "general commercial push" by the Comancheros. 'Zero tolerance for violence' CFMEU Administrator Michael Crosby release a statement on Thursday afternoon stating the incident where Mr Raymond was threatened was "extremely distressing". "The evidence in the Inquiry over the last few days should shock the whole industry, and the Administration renews its call that the clean-up of the industry must focus on more than the previous actions of the union," he said. "The new CFMEU has zero tolerance for violence. "The Administration is tasked with removing all unlawful activity or use of violence. We expect the employers to be held to the same level of account." Mr Crosby said there were questions remaining about what senior executives at BMD knew about the "use of Comancheros to threaten the CFMEU delegate". "It is morally repugnant and must be condemned by all." [Image text:] QLD CFMEX 000