Bleijie hints at CFMEU probe extension as hearings stretch further

Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has given a not-so-subtle hint the state’s CFMEU inquiry will be more than doubled in length, as the probe announced new hearings extending to the eve of its initial reporting date.

The Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU and Misconduct in the Construction Industry revealed on Tuesday morning it had altered its schedule, shifting next week’s sitting into July and adding a new one ending on July 30.

Bleijie was also pressed about his use of language to attack Labor figures following Saturday’s Stafford byelection, doubling down on rhetoric the opposition described as “schoolyard bullying” – with an audience of school kids at the press conference.

Under the $20-million inquiry’s initial terms of reference, it was required to provide a report to the government by July 31. Commissioner Stuart Wood AM KC wrote to government in recent weeks seeking an extension until December 2027.

Asked at an earlier media conference in Brisbane about the government’s consideration of the request, Bleijie said while not confirming if a decision had been made, he would “hate to see a commission wound up when they haven’t done the job”.

“There appears to be – what the commission is saying – a lot more work, so we’re considering that at the moment,” Bleijie said, noting reports of more than 500,000 documents being worked through by the inquiry team as discussions continue.

“Bearing in mind that commissions of inquiry are not, they’re not cheap ... it’s a lot of resources, intense, intense resources, put into commissions of inquiry.”

The Crisafulli government launched the probe after reporting by this masthead and 60 Minutes into criminality, corruption and misconduct in the union and sector nationwide.

Since late last year, it has held 28 public hearing days across nine weeks. Four more three-day hearing weeks are now scheduled to take place from June 9 – for a total of 40 days.

It has aired allegations of intervention by former Labor ministers in industry disputes with the CFMEU, campaigns by the union using its “institutional corruption” of the workplace safety regulator, and action by government favourable to its aims.

But the inquiry has also faced questions of its own around impartiality and the tension between its promise of this and the rhetoric of Crisafulli government figures describing its focus as aimed solely at the CFMEU and Labor’s links to the union.

At an unusual media conference held by Wood and senior counsel assisting the inquiry Patrick Wheelahan KC in March – the only one held by inquiry figures to date – Wheelahan suggested the inquiry had its work cut out.

“The inquiries we have been making, and investigations, have uncovered more than we expected,” he told reporters on the Gold Coast.

After Bleijie’s insult-laden spray at Labor leadership figures on Monday, describing Miles as “clown” and “muppet”, Shannon Fentiman as a “failure”, Grace Grace a “disgrace”, Meaghan Scanlon as a “scammer” and Cameron Dick as his surname, the deputy stood behind the language.

Speaking to reporters in front of cohort of Eagle Farm State School students, Bleijie had earlier joked he was going to behave himself on Tuesday before repeating everything except his suggested label for Dick.

Asked if he thought such language was appropriate, Bleijie said it was – accusing Labor figures of trying to distract from internal questions about Miles’ leadership of the party following a swing to the LNP in Stafford.

“I tell the truth, what I said yesterday was the truth,” Bleijie said.

Speaking in Redcliffe on Tuesday morning, Miles reiterated comments that every one of his parliamentary Labor colleagues were supportive and working in the same direction to see Labor re-elected to government in 2028.

Asked if this meant he would not resign before then, Miles said: “no”.

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