2 weeks ago
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February 10, 2026 — 4:07pm
A former Queensland minister has been accused of directing his department and its contractors to negotiate with the CFMEU, under a policy that raised red flags with the former federal construction watchdog.
Giving evidence to Queensland’s CFMEU inquiry, the state’s civil construction industry chief also accused the government of running a sham consultation around the policy, which it was warned read “like a CFMEU document”.
Launched by the state last year after reporting by this masthead and 60 Minutes into criminality, corruption and misconduct in the CFMEU and construction industry nationwide, the inquiry resumed its public work on Tuesday.
The evidence of Damian Long, chief executive of the Civil Contractors Federation Queensland, marks the first of 30 days of public hearings scheduled between now and June, with a report from the $20 million inquiry due by July 31.
The man charged with investigating the CFMEU by its government-appointed administrators, Geoffrey Watson SC – who appeared in the opening week of public hearings in November – is also scheduled to be called to the stand again this week.
Given his role and position on a state government procurement advisory council, Long’s evidence centred on the preparation and rollout of the government’s “best practice industry conditions” (BPICs) policies since 2018.
Starting with the Department of Housing and Public Works, these were soon being prepared for other areas of major government projects. While “aspirational”, prequalification clauses essentially made them mandatory.
Long told the inquiry he had heard from public servants and contractors that the CFMEU was involved in departmental negotiations – repeating a second-hand claim from senior public servants that there was a “ministerial direction to negotiate” with the union instead of the Australian Workers’ Union.
He told the inquiry this direction came from then transport minister Mark Bailey via his department director-general, Neil Scales, and one of his deputies.
Long said his organisation and others repeatedly raised concerns with the government about BPIC conditions, including their “strong contravention” of federal workplace laws around coercion and adverse action.
This particularly related to requirements to “force it [the BPIC policy] down the supply chain” and effectively ensure contractors also complied with its terms to get government work.
Long said his organisation had, through a solicitor, sought the opinion of the Australian Building and Construction Commission before its 2023 abolition, which found “potential non-compliance”.
After raising that concern, Long said the Department of Housing and Public Works advised it had sought Crown Law advice, which found “it was legal”, but refused to release the advice to him.
Following this, Long said the words “not mandatory” started creeping into government talk about the BPICs policy.
He said the language shifted to: “This is an aspirational document. What we want you to do is use your best endeavours to comply with this, and also your usual best endeavours to make sure the supply chain also complies with this.”
Crown Law advice about other elements of the policy was also raised by Australian Workers’ Union state secretary Stacey Schinnerl during the inquiry’s last public hearing block, but the government was also said to have refused to outline the advice.
The government consultation process during the implementation of the BPIC policy was a “sham” and did not give industry representatives the chance to provide feedback, Long added.
“The collaborative process and consultation process was nothing more than tabling documents to show where the government was going,” he said.
Eventually, the Department of Transport and Main Roads appeared to take the concerns on board and, in 2023, held talks with industry groups and contractors.
This resulted in a document, shared with Long and provided to the inquiry, outlining the concerns to be briefed back to Bailey, including that the BPIC policy “reads like a CFMEU document”.
