Riverfire fireworks delayed after CFMEU members let on to construction site

The CFMEU inquiry has heard a senior construction manager admitted to letting members of the public and union members on to an under-construction bridge during Riverfire in 2023 to watch the fireworks.

The fireworks had to be delayed until the area was cleared by police.

Public hearings for the ongoing inquiry run until December 10.

A senior manager at a major construction company has admitted to letting people onto a construction site during the 2023 Riverfire, which led to the delay of the fireworks.

Brad Ross, operations manager for BESIX Watpac, told the Queensland inquiry into the CFMEU he let a large group of people into the Kangaroo Point green bridge site to watch the event.

Most of those in attendance were members of the CFMEU, who Mr Ross told the inquiry had been invited by a union member who had watched Riverfire with him and his family the year before.

Police were called to the site after officers stationed on the water noticed people walking out on the under-construction bridge and into the fireworks exclusion zone.

It was Mr Ross's evidence that he was contacted by police who asked him to check if there were people on the bridge.

"I reported back to police that it was clear," Mr Ross told the inquiry.

However, body-cam footage played to the inquiry contradicted that evidence.

It showed two officers arrived on site and asking to be let in. They were greeted by men wearing CFMEU merchandise who took more than five minutes to locate Mr Ross, who was considered "in charge".

Mr Ross was initially reticent to let police carry out the inspection, telling them "there's only two people out there and I'll drag them back here".

After then letting the officers in, the video shows Mr Ross escorting them through a gathering of CFMEU members and their families.

As they walk out on the bridge itself, several people pass them, not just Mr Ross's family.

After clearing the bridge, the police were then confronted by a group of men as they were trying to walk back the way they came.

The men argue with them about why they were being kicked off the bridge.

"That's the biggest load of s**t I've ever heard," one of the men told police.

In response, the officer asked the man to come back and not to be silly.

After being told by an officer he was acting like a "knob" the man told police, "you are by being a cop".

All the while, police radio can be heard confirming Riverfire is on hold.

After finally convincing the men to move to a safe spot, the officers give the all-clear for the show to continue.

Mr Ross told the Commission of Inquiry the men hassling police were members of the CFMEU and not his friends.

He had initially said there were "around 16" people on the site that evening, however based on the vision, counsel assisting that inquiry put that number at closer to 40.

"There's more people than I'd probably prefer there, definitely," Mr Ross said.

After the event, Riverfire organisers emailed BESIX Watpac asking how it was that people were able to be on the bridge and "nearly cause the event to be cancelled".

The response from the company's PR firm was that people had got in "through a fence" and had been "moved on" as soon as they were discovered.

"That's not what happened, is it?" senior counsel assisting the inquiry Eddy Gisonda KC put to Mr Ross.

Mr Ross was asked if he was "doing the CFMEU a favour" by inviting members onto the site that evening.

"Two or so weeks beforehand, there had been 70 workers who had walked off the job. Did that event have anything to do with you allowing CFMEU members onto the site?" Mr Gisonda asked.

"I could have rejected their entry … that would've probably done me a dis-favour [sic], but I wasn't trying to seek favour."