3 months ago
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Geoffrey Watson’s appearance today will be a chance for him to be questioned about his report, which found the CFMEU had cultivated a culture of violence that included threats and intimidation of women and children.
The 45-page report, published online in July with some names and details redacted, conveyed the findings of a three-month probe that Watson said might only scratch the surface of the union’s violence.
Geoffrey Watson, SC, the CFMEU administration’s chief investigator.Credit: 60 Minutes
The report alleged that the building union’s former leadership Michael Ravbar and Jade Ingham oversaw a culture of abuse and harassment, which was “eagerly executed” by some union organisers, some delegates and some rank-and-file members.
Victims mentioned in the report included a female public servant who was berated by Ravbar inside a locked room at CFMEU offices, a 13-year-old child whose mother was called a “a f---in’ grub who sells out workers” at Labour Day, and an organiser from a rival union who was threatened and “shoulder charged” into oncoming traffic at a Cross River Rail construction site.
Just days after that report was made public, the Crisafulli government announced it would draw a line in the sand, calling the inquiry to “bring the CFMEU out of the shadows”.
Read more about the report and how it was received at the time.
