Bradley Ross, BESIX Watpac's Queensland operations manager, denied hosting union officials at the prime viewing location to curry favour with the CFMEU. BESIX Watpac and John Holland form the consortium that was all but confirmed last month as the builder of Brisbane Stadium at Victoria Park, a project the CFMEU has vowed to build.
Ross, who was not originally scheduled to give evidence this week, told the inquiry that CFMEU site delegate Cameron Paul asked him whether he could bring his family to the bridge worksite for the 2023 Riverfire, a request Ross granted after doing the same the previous year. Instead, Paul brought at least seven other union officials and their families.
"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 said.
Some of the party went out onto the under-construction bridge, none wearing protective gear, and were spotted by water police. In an email tendered to the inquiry, Brisbane Festival operations manager Christophe Broadway wrote: "We had an incident Saturday night which caused a delay in Riverfire starting, and very nearly caused it to be cancelled." People had been seen on the bridge, he wrote, and the show was not allowed to start until they were clear.
BESIX Watpac project manager Rowan Riggall responded that people had entered the site through a fence where no security was positioned and were moved on as soon as security spotted them. But police body-worn camera footage shown to the inquiry showed police entering the site at the CBD end, where they were met by Ross and taken out to clear the bridge.
The footage showed CFMEU officials including Dean Rielly, Dylan Howard, Hayden Jones, Cody Budgen, Jon Paul, Hoani Edwards and Dean Mattas, as well as young families, none wearing PPE and none formally inducted. Ross estimated about 16 people were present in an interview with inquiry lawyers last week, but the footage showed about 40 on the site.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Eddy Gisonda, KC, asked Ross whether the CFMEU had "gatecrashed" what was meant to be a family gathering. "They're powerful terms, but that's probably a fair assessment," Ross said. "I didn't send an invite out to anyone other than my family."
Commissioner Stuart Wood was sceptical. "That's some quite hard evidence to accept, Mr Ross. Are you sure that's right?" he asked. Ross insisted he was not trying to gain favour from the CFMEU, saying the request was "sprung on me at the last minute" and that while he could have rejected the entry, it would have "probably done me a disfavour". The inquiry continues.