We’ve got some indication now about the inquiry’s plan for this week.
Senior counsel assisting Patrick Wheelahan is giving some opening remarks and says he will be laying out a case study with the help of four former Workplace Health and Safety Queensland principal inspectors.
“The theory underpinning this case study is that there was regulatory capture of Workplace Health and Safety Queensland by the CFMEU during the period that Ms Grace Grace was the minister for industrial relations,” Wheelahan says.
“We use the term regulatory capture in this case study to mean a form of institutional corruption.
“That is, in this case, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, whose legitimate objectives are to protect the health, safety and welfare of all individuals affected … became improperly dominated by the interest of the CFMEU above others.”
This was then “weaponised by the CFMEU for its illegitimate industrial control purpose in the construction industry”, Wheelahan said.
This would add to three other case studies of regulatory capture already detailed in part before the inquiry, or still being looked into: the development and implementation of the Best Practice Industry Conditions policies, a memorandum of understanding between police and the Office of Industrial Relations, and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
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