Former union official Paul Tzimas told Victoria’s Big Build royal commission builders arranged for Mick Gatto to attend a meeting after a 2020 assault, adding testimony to the inquiry.
Tzimas said a meeting between officials of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) and builders was called about a week after the attack. The builders arranged for Gatto to attend. Tzimas described Gatto as someone builders and developers approached for help with project problems.
Tzimas told the commission the assault left him with a fractured ankle. He said a colleague suffered an eye-socket fracture, damaged teeth, partial loss of vision and severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
He also testified that he initially refused a gold bracelet from Gatto but later accepted it. Tzimas said Gatto described the gift as an “olive branch” and said it was not intended to secure a favor. Tzimas said he never wore the bracelet.
A report by Geoffrey Watson, tendered to Queensland’s CFMEU inquiry, dates the Hawthorn East assault to June 30, 2020. That incident is separate from the Gap Road case, which concerns a construction stoppage in Sunbury in June 2022.
The commission says work at Gap Road stopped June 6-7, 2022, and resumed after a June 7 meeting at CFMEU offices. Its November hearings are examining the arrangements that followed and their costs. The project involved removing a level crossing and building a rail bridge and underpass, as described in EconoTimes’ earlier coverage of the Gap Road inquiry and its cost questions.
The commission has scheduled public hearings through Nov. 20.
