{"id":110888,"date":"2025-08-01T18:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T18:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110888\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T18:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T18:08:11","slug":"cfmeu-inquiry-gets-liberal-linked-barrister-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/110888\/","title":{"rendered":"CFMEU inquiry gets Liberal-linked barrister head"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wood was reported in 2020<\/a> to have been a member of the Liberal Party, but a Victorian Liberal source said he has since left.<\/p>\n

What they said<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

\u201cThis inquiry represents a significant responsibility, and I am committed to conducting it with the thoroughness and rigour the people of Queensland deserve,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bleijie, in a joint statement with Attorney-General Deb Frecklington, Wood and Gee, said the men would bring a wealth of experience to their work, which was set to begin today.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueenslanders want change, and we are delivering that change after 10 years of inaction by the former Labor government, which facilitated a protection racket for the CFMEU, in turn silencing victims and whistleblowers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inquiry will ensure the rule of law is returned to the construction industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked at a later media conference whether he considered Wood\u2019s former Liberal Party membership to be a problem, Bleijie said \u201cnot at all\u201d and accused Labor of running a \u201cscare campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked if he was concerned that the Liberal links might colour the perception of the inquiry\u2019s work, he repeated \u201cnot at all\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bleijie highlighted the case of Robodebt royal commissioner Catherine Holmes being appointed by a Labor government despite having sued then National Party premier Rob Borbidge in 1997 for making her a \u201cscapegoat\u201d in sacking her from the Community Corrections Board.<\/p>\n

He also sought to highlight Peter Coaldrake\u2019s past Labor donation before his review<\/a> into culture and accountability of the public sector for then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no one better qualified in Australia to lead this inquiry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He described the appointment as a \u201clengthy process\u201d in which \u201cI looked for the most eminent, qualified, legal professional dealing with industrial relations in Australia and I made that representation to the Governor of Queensland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bleijie then stated it was in fact he and Frecklington who \u201clooked at a number of options\u201d but ultimately \u201cmade the decision and presented that to the Governor\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another perspective<\/p>\n

Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King described Wood as a \u201ccaptain\u2019s pick\u201d by Bleijie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt raises question about \u2013 not his qualifications \u2013 but the actual process and whether the process of the situation passes the pub test about independence and impartiality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe clearly know that the LNP government is trying to target not just the CFMEU, but also Labor in opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further detailed questions to Bleijie\u2019s office about how Wood\u2019s appointment came to be, and whether the standard due diligence process was undertaken by the Justice Department, were answered by a government spokesperson who said the appointment and establishment of the inquiry were \u201cmatters for cabinet\u201d.<\/p>\n

Frecklington\u2019s office and the Justice Department were also contacted for a response. The Labor opposition declined to comment on the appointment.<\/p>\n

What you need to know<\/p>\n

Wood has worked in industrial law for three decades, and acted for high-profile clients such as footballer Israel Folau<\/a> in his wrongful dismissal case over an anti-gay Instagram post, and for Coles<\/a> in its defence of landmark underpayment allegations.<\/p>\n

He was appointed to the Order of Australia in 2019 for service to the legal profession\u2019s industrial relations area, and he\u2019s been secretary of the conservative Liberal-aligned Samuel Griffith Society legal organisation for a decade.<\/p>\n

While Bleijie said the expected 12 months should be long enough for the inquiry\u2019s work, he added that if Wood requested more time, it would be considered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wood was reported in 2020 to have been a member of the Liberal Party, but a Victorian Liberal…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":110889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-110888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114954849717929971","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}