‘You won’t win’: public servant details union clash
Andrew Stafford |
A former senior public servant’s departmental position was abruptly terminated after just nine months following a campaign of CFMEU harassment, a long-running inquiry has heard.
Kym Bancroft, a former deputy director-general at Queensland’s Office of Industrial Relations, said she was told by her boss Michael De’Ath that her position was terminated because “there is a union that’s unhappy with you”.
Ms Bancroft had been in conflict with the CFMEU over former director of construction compliance Helen Burgess, who had strong ties to the union.
Ms Bancroft had tried to direct the CFMEU to use a hotline specifically set up to assess worksite issues, instead of the direct line they had to Ms Burgess.
The inquiry was told it brought her into direct conflict with the union’s Queensland boss Michael Ravbar, who allegedly told her at a volatile meeting with Mr De’Ath that she had crossed the CFMEU at her peril.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Kym, you’ve chosen to take us on – anyone who does that does not win,'” Ms Bancroft told the inquiry.
“Did you win?” counsel assisting the inquiry Dimitri Ternovski asked.
“I most definitely did not win,” Ms Bancroft replied.
“He was most definitely 100 per cent correct in his statement.”
Ms Bancroft was offered a transfer to another role within the Department of Education on equal remuneration, which she turned down.
Earlier, she said a campaign was waged in which she was bombarded by phone calls from union officials, which she estimated receiving every 20 minutes.
“It was relentless,” she said.
She said the workplace culture of the Office of Industrial Relations was toxic, with “significant psycho-social hazards”.
Soon after beginning at the office in August 2022, Ms Bancroft assessed the results of a survey of workplace satisfaction at the department.
The anonymised results were scathing, with many respondents identifying Ms Burgess as a major issue, often in heated terms.
“These were not the average cultural comments you would read coming into an organisation,” Ms Bancroft said.
“It talked to the fact that we have got significant psycho-social hazards going on here – around occupational violence and aggression of inspectors going out to work sites.”
She told the inquiry the psychological impact had resulted in 45 construction inspectors leaving the office before her arrival.
Asked by counsel assisting whether she saw red flags, she replied: “Big red flags, and potentially worse.”
The ongoing status of Ms Burgess was brought to Ms Bancroft’s attention within days of her arrival, with a proposal already having been made that she be moved on.
But after Ms Bancroft approved a decision to have Ms Burgess moved, Mr De’Ath took a furious call from Mr Ravbar demanding her reinstatement.
Later, in January 2023, Ms Bancroft attended a meeting with former industrial relations minister Grace Grace, who defended Ms Burgess, referring to the investigations that were piling up around her.
“This poor woman should be left alone, she’s been through so much,” Ms Grace allegedly said.
Ms Burgess had her appeal against her eventual sacking from the office dismissed on Tuesday.
Ms Bancroft said she was surprised by Ms Grace’s comments.
The inquiry has heard months of evidence about the union’s alleged malign influence over Queensland’s construction industry and regulators.
The inquiry, led by Commissioner Stuart Wood, has been extended until December.
AAP