CFMEU inquiry appoints new team after exodus

3 hours ago 2

Six people have joined the legal team of the inquiry into the CFMEU launched by the Queensland government, after its leading lawyer and three others left last week.

Two Victorian silks – Patrick Wheelahan KC and Mark Costello KC – join as the new senior counsel assisting, along with barristers Daniel Caruana, Alastair Smith, Sophie Harburg and Madeleine Stone in assisting commissioner Stuart Wood KC.

They replace the former senior counsel assisting Liam Kelly KC and junior barristers Kate Juhasz, Polina Kinchina and Ben Dighton, who this masthead reported left following Kelly’s issues with the management and operation of the inquiry.

Patrick Wheelahan KC (left); and Mark Costello KC have joined the inquiry.

Senior public servant Bob Gee had been appointed the inquiry’s secretary but has also left to become the state’s interim victims’ commissioner.

Wheelahan specialises in employment and industrial law with a special interest in the construction sector.

Costello brings extensive experience working on inquiries, including having worked in a counsel assisting role on the Financial Services Royal Commission.

Caruana, Smith, Harburg and Stone are all Brisbane-based, and bring a range of experience to the team.

Commissioner Wood’s appointment as commissioner has been viewed with deep scepticism by the Labor movement, given his longstanding ties to the Liberal Party.

Caruana and Harburg have both focused primarily on criminal law, Smith is a specialist in regulatory law, and Stone has a civil practice.

The commission of inquiry announced this week that it would hold two sets of hearings before the end of the year, the first of which will begin within two weeks, running November 18,19,20.

The second set of hearings will span December 2, 3 and 4. Witness lists are yet to be released.

Following Kelly’s departure, government sources told this masthead his worries had related to the failure to share key information and a disagreement between senior staff over an investigative strategy, and were rebutted by Wood.

The inquiry was launched in response to revelations of widespread corruption in the construction industry revealed in the “Building Bad” series of reports by this masthead, 60 Minutes and The Australian Financial Review.