Former Queensland BLF-come-CFMEU thug boss Dave Hanna has told the Royal Commission into Trade Union Corruption that he had little idea of what his new house was going to cost when he commissioned the project.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk implicated with connections to union corruption?
The inquiry has heard allegations that a developer organised for about $150,000 worth of work to be done for free on a house for Mr Hanna, then-secretary of the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF).
Mr Hanna made his first appearance as a witness at the royal commission this afternoon.
He told the inquiry that in 2012 he had commissioned plans for a large new house but had not discussed budget with the draftsman.
Key points:
- Claims Dave Hanna fraudulently benefited during his home’s construction
- Mirvac developer allegedly organised for about $150,000 worth of free work
- Mr Hanna said he had little idea of what his new house was going to cost
- Quit the Labor party on Thursday night
Counsel assisting the commission, Sarah McNaughton SC, asked Mr Hanna: “It might have cost $200,000 or $2.5 million and you had no idea?”
Mr Hanna, who will resume giving evidence on Monday, replied: “No idea.”
NFI? Nah, gotcha thug!
He had done no research on the cost, he said.
Earlier today, Adam Moore, who was in charge of Mirvac’s construction division in Queensland and Western Australia in 2013, told the commission he had instructed a subordinate to “look after” Mr Hanna.
Mr Moore said Mr Hanna had come to see him at Mirvac’s Brisbane offices in April of that year.
He told the commission that as a result of the meeting he had agreed to help Mr Hanna get a price for windows on a house he was building and to provide contact details for an interior designer.
He said he had passed drawings of the house to Mirvac project manager Matthew McAllum.
“I told him to look after Hanna,” Mr Moore said.
But he denied that he had discussed it with Mr McAllum subsequently.
Mr Moore said he had told his boss, Mirvac national construction director Jason Vieusseux, about the help being provided to Mr Hanna.
“I told Mr Vieusseux everything to do with unions,” Mr Moore said.
Asked if his willingness to help Mr Hanna had anything to do with his role as a senior union official, Mr Moore said: “Yeah, probably.”
Mr Moore also told the commission that in 2013 Mirvac had been trying to sever its ties with unions to save costs and had introduced a policy preventing the company from sponsoring union-organised events such as boxing tournaments.
But he said his boss, Mr Vieusseux, had told him to instead channel such payments through Mirvac subcontractors.
“It was to be concealed from the public so you couldn’t tell that we’d basically paid for tables,” Mr Moore told the commission.
Mirvac late today issued a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange saying it had investigated breaches of company policy in its Queensland construction division in mid-2013.
The developer also told the ASX that it had been Mr Vieusseux who had alerted the company to possible wrongdoing.
And CFMEU destroyed Lis-Con’s business in Queensland
$150,000 in free work on Dave Hanna’s house
Yesterday, the royal commission heard from Mr McAllum, who detailed his role in procuring tradesmen and materials for the large house being built for Mr Hanna at Cornubia in 2013.
Mr McAllum told the hearing in Brisbane he had several conversations with Mr Hanna and got the feeling he “was never intending on paying” for the work.
He said Mr Hanna had received about $150,000 worth of free work and materials on his house project south-east of Brisbane, with Mirvac paying for about half of it.
He has also testified that there were several conversations about the Hanna house with his “mentor”, Mr Moore, something Mr Moore denied today.
The commission is probing whether Mr Hanna, who was also the former boss of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) in Queensland, received illegal secret commissions.
Last night Mr Hanna quit the Labor Party in the midst of fraud allegations against him.
The ALP had started disciplinary action against Mr Hanna before his resignation.
Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told Parliament she had discussed the claims raised this week with the ALP hierarchy.
“The revelations that are coming out of the royal commission are indeed concerning and it is disgraceful behaviour,” she said.
“That will run its course; if anyone breaks the law they will face the full consequences of that law.
“Just because there is one rotten egg [it] doesn’t tarnish everyone else … I have taken swift action.”
Hanna has Form:
Julia Gillard’s slush fund for personal gain
“I counted off $7000, gave it to that gentleman,” Mr Blewitt told the royal commission of the $20,000 he was carrying in an envelope.
“He stuck it in the front pocket of his bib and brace overall and went back outside to join the other two workers.
“My recollection was that Ms Gillard was in the front room when I arrived.”
Ms Gillard has consistently denied renovations at her Abbotsford home were funded by the union slush fund orchestrated by Mr Wilson.
It was not the only time evidence was heard about Ms Gillard and potentially unethical behaviour in yesterday’s opening of the inquiry into union corruption.
Mr Blewitt alleged he was forced to sign a document giving power of attorney to Mr Wilson, a document that contained Ms Gillard’s name and signature as a witness.