Overview
- Former CPB executive Don Johnson testified that Queensland’s “best practice principles” before financial close shifted leverage toward union-preferred deals, including pressure to adopt Queen’s Wharf rates.
- Johnson described late‑June 2019 meetings where Delivery Authority staff sought legal workarounds and a subsequent text from then deputy premier Jackie Trad to CIMIC’s chief executive about CPB’s stance.
- After a serious injury in July 2023 and project‑wide pickets, CPB agreed to a safety reset that hired CFMEU‑suggested full‑time health and safety representatives, a move he said was necessary to restart work but later fuelled stoppages.
- Cross River Rail chief Graeme Newton told the inquiry the CFMEU purposefully disrupted critical works, alleging at least 12 sabotaged concrete pours, 14 crane‑lift interferences, and a sustained safety misinformation campaign.
- Evidence before the inquiry cited 148 days of protected industrial action in 2024, an estimated A$580 million in disruption costs, blocked access for nearly 1,000 subcontracted workers, and a revised opening now expected in 2029.