Overview
- Workplace Health and Safety Queensland operations manager Deborah Dargan testified the regulator formed an “alliance” with the CFMEU and targeted firms the union opposed.
- Dargan said inspectors were pushed to issue improvement, prohibition and infringement notices, including $3,600 fines for minor issues such as household detergent or unmarked water bottles.
- She identified BMD Group and Queensland Steelfixing as frequent targets and described being ordered to walk sites with CFMEU officials who flagged issues beyond the original right‑of‑entry matters.
- Dargan detailed a 2021 Woolloongabba site dispute, subsequent managerial pressure and a message to “either like it or leave,” while retired inspector Noel Hayes said staff were forced to issue stop‑work notices and lost discretion under director Helen Burgess.
- Senior counsel Patrick Wheelahan alleged “regulatory capture” and institutional corruption, naming Burgess as a key conduit as the CCC’s prior response said it would not act against former minister Grace Grace; the $19.7 million inquiry’s final report is due in July 2026, with timing subject to change.