Arabic version: الرئيس التنفيذي السابق لماستر بيلدرز يشهد بأنه حاول الانتحار

Former Master Builders Queensland chief executive Grant Galvin told a public inquiry he attempted to take his own life after a sustained campaign of intimidation by the Queensland branch of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU).

According to ABC News, Mr Galvin said the campaign included a 2022 CFMEU-led rally outside Master Builders Queensland’s Brisbane headquarters in Spring Hill over a proposed merger of the Building Unions Superannuation Scheme Queensland (BUSSQ) with the larger CBUS industry fund, where union members hoisted a coffin in a tree outside his office, an act he perceived to be a “death threat.” He told Commissioner Stuart Wood KC the episode had a “profound impact” on him and compared the toll of intimidation to “boiling a frog.” “You don’t actually realise the impact until it happens,” he said, adding “I’m lucky I’m here today.” Riot police were deployed to the rally, which he described as a “significantly heightened” security threat.

When Commissioner Stuart Wood KC asked Mr Galvin to elaborate, he said he had a mental breakdown and attempted to commit suicide. The inquiry heard Mr Galvin resigned as MBQ chief executive shortly after the rally.

Mr Galvin also recalled a separate 2017 incident in which his car was plastered with pro-union snake stickers after a meeting with CFMEU officials at the union’s Bowen Hills headquarters. He said he saw former CFMEU state secretary Michael Ravbar and his deputy, Jade Ingham, laughing at the vandalism. “It was just a joke to them but as far I’m concerned, it’s vandalism, it’s intimidation, it’s bullying and if it was at any other worksite or at a school … the police would be called,” Mr Galvin said. “I’ve worked with every union … I’ve never come across anything like the CFMEU and the levels that they would go through to intimidate to get what they wanted.”

The evidence was heard in an inquiry into alleged misconduct and corruption within the CFMEU’s Queensland division, a probe triggered by Geoffrey Watson SC’s report that set out allegations of a culture of violence, intimidation, misogyny and bullying. Lawyers representing former Labor minister Grace Grace have also appeared at the inquiry, and the probe has examined claims she threatened contractors on a major project that she would tear up a contract if they did not work with the CFMEU.

Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Queensland | General | Social/إجتماعية