A CFMEU sign is seen in the Brisbane CBD in Queensland, Australia on July 23, 2024. AAP Image/Jono Searle
Construction bosses had tracking devices put on their cars, were spied on by drones and even had a family pet baited as tensions flared with the CFMEU, an inquiry has been told.
A private security boss claims the union used intimidation tactics on contractor BMD’s executives during Brisbane’s Centenary Bridge upgrade, including running red lights to stalk them in traffic.
Grant Killen said his firm Concentric Concepts was brought in after fears BMD senior figures were being watched and followed away from worksites, Queensland’s CFMEU inquiry was told on Aug. 25.
“In my career I’ve probably witnessed most forms of human behaviour across multiple continents and countries, and this is probably not the best feeling in the world, that’s for sure,” he said.
GPS devices were placed on three vehicles used by BMD figures, the inquiry was told.
Evidence also referred to drones near executives’ homes, and a family pet being baited as part of what BMD believed was a wider campaign of intimidation.
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Emails shown to the inquiry revealed CFMEU National Assistant Secretary Andrew Sutherland and Queensland boss Michael Ravbar engaged a former detective to run background checks on BMD executives, gaining their home addresses from company documents.
Asked if it was the kind of conduct he might have expected in Iraq not Australia, former Navy serviceman Killen replied: “Yeah, I could draw that inference.”
He said the tactics left executives and their families feeling exposed.
“It certainly rattled the families, absolutely,” Killen said.
“It’s a big adjustment for families to have someone at their shoulder, follow them to the toilet to make sure they get there and back.
“It certainly affects them probably a lot deeper than what the face value of it suggests.”
Killen, a former Queensland police officer who has provided security for a former Queensland premier, said his company was hired in 2024 to protect BMD executives as tensions grew on the Centenary Bridge upgrade.
He said he initially supplied guards to the site before discovering another security outfit, Host Group owned by Gary Samuel, had also been hired despite not holding the right Queensland licence.
Killen told the commission Samuel asked him to onboard some of Host Group’s men so they could legally work on site.
He agreed and billed BMD as the licensed provider while using Host staff as contractors, the inquiry heard.
Killen said as the situation escalated, including reports of executives being followed and growing concerns about the project’s security environment, he ultimately withdrew his company from the Centenary Bridge job.
It comes after earlier evidence BMD believed it was being targeted as part of a national CFMEU campaign after refusing to sign union enterprise deals on projects in Queensland and Victoria.
Queensland Council of Unions Secretary Jacqueline King previously told the inquiry BMD warned it could not guarantee the safety of Australian Workers’ Union Secretary Stacey Schinnerl at Centenary Bridge.
King told the inquiry earlier the CFMEU while under administration was trying to “move forward” and rejoin the mainstream union movement.
She agreed that, to her knowledge, the union had not breached industrial laws since the external administrator took over in August 2024.
The inquiry was told “some 138” people ceased to be delegates under administration, with the overhaul used as proof of cultural reform inside the scandal-hit union.
The Queensland probe is unfolding as a separate royal commission in Victoria prepares to dig into alleged corruption and serious misconduct on the state’s multibillion-dollar Big Build, including any role played by the CFMEU, construction firms and government agencies.
By Robyn Wuth in Brisbane
