Ex-CFMEU administrator grilled over union's Youth Crew

Former CFMEU administrator Mark Irving has been grilled about the union's youth wing, including its alleged involvement in a pro-Palestine rally.

Mr Irving KC returned to the Queensland Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU on Wednesday, receiving a series of questions in relation to the union's Youth Crew from counsel assisting Patrick Wheelahan KC.

The Youth Crew - mentored by former union official Jade Ingham - had earlier been mentioned at the inquiry by AWU's Stacey Schinnerl who alleged members had intimidated her at a 2023 Brisbane Labour Day event.

She had described the Youth Crew as the union's next generation of loyal foot soldiers.

Asked about the Youth Crew, Mr Irving said they had no formal CFMEU status, likening it to youth groups within churches.

He said Mr Ingham had run the Youth Crew inappropriately, and had to make a decision whether to wind it up or repurpose it to effect long-term improvements to the union's culture.

"I considered the Youth Crew can, like other parts of the union, be used as an instrument for change," he said.

Later, Mr Wheelahan showed Mr Irving photographs of a Brisbane protest rally against the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog in February, in which a Palestinian flag was atop a CFMEU Youth Crew flag.

He also asked Mr Irving whether he agreed with statements by Attorney-General Deb Frecklington that the banned phrase "from the river to the sea" was "there to incite hate".

Counsel for Mr Irving, Chris O'Grady KC objected, saying the ex-administrator was not being cross-examined on his views about Palestine or Israel.

"We don't know who's holding the flag, we don't know when or where the flag was purchased, we don't know whether they're actually members of the CFMEU," he said.

"I can indicate to the commission that the (Youth Crew) flag is no longer for sale."

Mr Wheelahan then asked Mr Irving if flying a Palestinian flag at the rally was something that he wished the CFMEU to be associated with.

"I would not wish the CFMEU, including the Youth Crew in Queensland, to be associated with anything involving things that are there to incite hate against Jews and Israelis, or against Palestinians," Mr Irving replied.