‘Build, baby, build': Bleijie details CFMEU probe amid estimates drama
The commission of inquiry's finalised terms of reference, released late on Wednesday, will allow it to probe existing or previous laws and any person or group that 'enabled' alleged misconduct.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie also used the announcement, during a parliamentary estimates hearing, to repeat his pointed political attacks against the former Labor government.
Bleijie levelled accusations that Labor had 'facilitated' the CFMEU's 'systemic violence and protection rackets', of which the recent Watson report 'only scratched the surface'.
'This is Labor's Fitzgerald moment,' he said, in a nod to the almost two-year inquiry that led to the fall of premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson and the jailing of former ministers and officials.
The CFMEU inquiry, expected to run for 12 months under the leadership of a yet-to-be-revealed chair – who could be announced this week – will also be able to consider changes to criminal laws.
Allegations around the 'systemic nature' of misconduct involving the union's current and former leadership will feature in the probe, which will have the power to compel – and protect – witnesses and documents.
Any involvement of organised crime or other criminal elements will also be investigated, as will irregularities in the union's financial dealings, and the impact of any misconduct on the productivity of specific projects, the construction industry in general, and the wider economy.
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