The Queensland operations manager of one of the firms in line to build Brisbane's Olympic stadium hosted a Riverfire viewing party on the Kangaroo Point Bridge construction site in 2023 that nearly caused the entire fireworks show to be cancelled, a state inquiry into the CFMEU has heard.
BESIX Watpac Queensland operations manager Bradley Ross gave evidence on Wednesday before the Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU and Misconduct in the Construction Industry, telling the hearing that a CFMEU site delegate had asked to bring his family to the worksite for the event, a request Ross said he granted after doing the same the year before.
How the Riverfire party unfolded
Ross told the inquiry that CFMEU site delegate Cameron Paul, identified as the union's 2020 Rookie of the Year, initially asked if he could bring his family to the bridge site for the 2023 Riverfire. Ross agreed. But Paul then arrived with at least seven other union officials and their families in tow.
"Mr Paul contacted me and asked whether, at short notice, close to the event, whether it would be OK if some other people came along, which I agreed to," Ross told the inquiry.
Some members of the group moved out onto the under-construction bridge structure, inside the fireworks exclusion zone, where they were spotted by water police. None were wearing personal protective equipment and none had been formally inducted onto the site.
An email tendered to the inquiry revealed the situation brought the show to the brink of cancellation. Brisbane Festival operations manager Christophe Broadway wrote to a senior account manager, who forwarded the message to BESIX Watpac project manager Rowan Riggall, stating: "We had an incident Saturday night which caused a delay in Riverfire starting, and very nearly caused it to be cancelled. People were seen on the Green Bridge and the show was not allowed to start till they were clear."
Police body-camera footage contradicts company account
Riggall responded to the email saying those on the bridge had entered through a gap in the fence where no security was stationed and were moved on as soon as guards spotted them. However, police body-worn camera footage shown to the inquiry told a different story.
That footage showed officers entering the site at the CBD end of the bridge, where they were met by Ross himself, who accompanied them to clear the structure. The footage identified multiple CFMEU officials present, including Dean Rielly, Dylan Howard, Hayden Jones, Cody Budgen, Jon Paul, Hoani Edwards and Dean Mattas, as well as young families, all without protective gear.
Ross had estimated to inquiry lawyers in an interview the previous week that around 16 people were present on the site. Inquiry lawyers indicated the footage showed approximately 40 people were there. Ross accompanied police out to a crane positioned in the middle of the Brisbane River, where a number of the officials and their families had gathered, before they were all cleared from the site and Riverfire was able to proceed.
Commissioner questions whether party was about currying favour
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Eddy Gisonda KC, asked Ross whether the CFMEU had effectively "gatecrashed" what was supposed to be a family event.
"They're powerful terms, but that's probably a fair assessment," Ross replied. "I didn't send an invite out to anyone other than my family."
Ross denied the gathering was intended to win favour with the union. But Commissioner Stuart Wood made clear he found that account difficult to accept.
"That's some quite hard evidence to accept, Mr Ross. Are you sure that's right?" Wood said. Ross maintained he had not been attempting to gain favour from the CFMEU.
BESIX Watpac, along with John Holland, forms the consortium that was last month all but confirmed as the builder of Brisbane Stadium at Victoria Park, a project the CFMEU has publicly vowed to build.
