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Category: Courts and Trials / Law, Crime and Justice / Building and Construction

CFMEU official 'agreed to give evidence against union to avoid jail'

Wednesday, 14 Sep 2016 13:50:01 | Elizabeth Byrne

Fihi Kivalu (L) said he gave evidence against the CFMEU to avoid going to jail. (ABC News: Mark Moore)

A former construction union official agreed to give evidence against the union as part of a deal to avoid jail time on blackmail charges, a Federal Court has heard.

Several members of the Construction, Mining, Forestry and Energy Union (CFMEU), including ACT Secretary Dean Hall, are facing charges they breached the Fair Work Act during a blockade at a dance school development in the Canberra suburb of Dickson in 2014.

The union said the protest was about safety issues, but the construction company, Built, maintains it was aimed at exerting pressure over an enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) negotiation.

Today, former union Official Fihi Kivalu, 39, backed up the building company's account telling the court "the vibe [of] the talk in our office was that Built had not signed the EBA and [would] not sign an EBA".

During cross examination by the union's counsel, Herman Borenstein QC, quizzed Mr Kivalu closely about what he said was being discussed in the union office.

"No-one said these words to you did they? This is only an issue because the EBA with Built did not go the union's way," Mr Borenstein said.

Mr Kivalu replied: "Dean [Hall] said that to us."

Mr Kivalu also maintained Mr Hall had given instructions that if anyone asked about the blockade they were to mention safety concerns but not the EBA.

Under cross-examination Mr Kivalu also admitted he had struck a deal in a bid to avoid jail time on blackmail charges.

He was arrested outside the trade union royal commission and charged with blackmailing a contractor who he had threatened to shut out of the industry.

Mr Kivalu pleaded guilty and was given a three-year suspended sentence.

'Who wants to go to jail?'

Today he admitted there was an agreement with prosecutors they would not seek a jail term if he agreed to cooperate in the case.

Mr Borenstein: "The end result was you provided a statement."

Mr Kivalu: "They did not force me, I made a choice."

Mr Borenstein: "You made a choice not to go to jail by cooperating."

Mr Kivalu: "Who wants to go to jail?"

But when questioned about the consequences of his decision to cooperate, Mr Kivalu made clear nothing was certain in the arrangement about whether he would avoid jail.

He said: "That was up to the judge."

Mr Borenstein: "That was the result wasn't it? You did not go to jail."

Mr Kivalu: "Yes, thank God."

Mr Kivalu is among the union officials charged over the blockade and has admitted contravening the law.

But the others who are accused are continuing to fight the case.

AustraliaPlus


 

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