A Queensland parliamentary inquiry examining the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union has been told a labour hire firm paid more than $1m over nine years to well-known Melbourne figure Mick Gatto, with the firm’s lawyer telling the inquiry the payments were made to help secure work on Victorian government Big Build sites. The firm’s legal representative rejected suggestions its directors acted as “frontmen” for Mr Gatto, telling the inquiry they “may have done business” with him but ran the company independently.
The claims emerged during evidence from integrity expert Geoffrey Watson SC, who authored the “Rotting from the Top” report examining alleged union influence over construction labour hire arrangements in Victoria. Mr Watson’s report is one of several documents the inquiry is using to examine how construction firms have engaged with figures connected to the industry’s underworld reputation.
What was alleged at the inquiry #
According to evidence given to the inquiry, the report authored by Mr Watson alleged Mr Gatto controlled several companies within the M Group structure through what the report described as “dummy directors,” naming Michael Portia and Tony Paragalli in that context. The inquiry was told the report’s findings suggested this arrangement allowed Mr Gatto influence over firms operating on major government construction projects, including sites within the Victorian government’s Big Build program.
M Group’s lawyer told the inquiry the company’s directors rejected that characterisation. The court record from the inquiry indicates the lawyer accepted the directors “may have done business” with Mr Gatto but disputed any suggestion they were acting as proxies or frontmen on his behalf. The inquiry was told the more than $1m in payments made to Mr Gatto over nine years was intended, according to the firm’s account, to help the company secure work on sites where the CFMEU held industrial influence.
VCN has not independently verified the underlying commercial arrangements referred to in the report, and no findings of unlawful conduct have been made against any individual named in this article. The inquiry itself is a fact-finding parliamentary process rather than a court, and its proceedings do not determine criminal or civil liability.
Who is Mick Gatto #
Mick Gatto is a Melbourne identity long associated in media reporting with the city’s underworld figures, and more recently with dispute resolution and labour hire consulting in the construction sector. He has not been charged in connection with the matters raised at this inquiry. Any characterisation of his role in the arrangements described to the inquiry remains, at this stage, an allegation contained within a report and evidence given to a parliamentary process — not a finding of a court.
Why this matters for the Big Build #
Victoria’s Big Build is the state government’s multi-billion-dollar program of major transport and infrastructure projects, including level crossing removals, the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel works. The program relies heavily on subcontracted labour hire arrangements, and concerns about union influence over which firms secure that work have been the subject of scrutiny by media, government-appointed administrators and now this interstate parliamentary inquiry.
In 2024, the CFMEU’s construction division was placed into federal administration following separate allegations of organised crime infiltration and standover conduct on building sites, reported extensively at the time by national media. That administration process is distinct from the Queensland inquiry now examining Mr Watson’s report, though both relate to broader questions about who controls access to work on major Victorian and national construction projects.
For readers unfamiliar with how these processes interact: a parliamentary inquiry can hear evidence, receive reports and make recommendations, but it cannot convict anyone of an offence. Any suggestion of criminal conduct raised in evidence would need to be referred to and independently tested by police, prosecutors and ultimately a court before any person could be found to have broken the law.
The company’s response #
Court and inquiry documents show M Group’s legal representative used the hearing to directly contest the framing in Mr Watson’s report. The lawyer’s position, as told to the inquiry, was that while a commercial relationship with Mr Gatto existed, the company’s directors — named in the report as Michael Portia and Tony Paragalli — operated the business independently and were not acting under Mr Gatto’s direction.
VCN has sought to reflect that response accurately. Under Australian defamation principles, a fair and accurate report of evidence given to an official inquiry is protected, provided the reporting does not go beyond what was actually said and does not assert as fact matters that remain contested. We have accordingly attributed each contested claim to either the report itself or the evidence given at the hearing.
What happens next #
The Queensland inquiry is continuing to hear evidence and is expected to consider further submissions relating to labour hire arrangements on major construction projects, including those with links to Victoria. Mr Watson is defending the findings of his report before the inquiry, and further witnesses are expected to be called.
No charges have been laid against any individual as a result of the matters raised in the report or in evidence to the inquiry to date. VCN will continue to monitor the inquiry’s proceedings and any subsequent referrals that may arise from its findings.
Background reading #
- Victoria’s Big Build program encompasses level crossing removals, the Metro Tunnel, and the West Gate Tunnel, among other major transport infrastructure projects.
- The CFMEU’s construction and general division was placed into federal administration in 2024 following separate allegations examined in national reporting.
- Parliamentary inquiries operate under different rules to courts, with evidence given under privilege but not constituting a legal finding of fact.
This matter remains before a parliamentary inquiry process, and no findings of unlawful conduct have been made against any person named in this article. All individuals are entitled to have contested claims tested through appropriate legal or parliamentary process, and are presumed innocent of any criminal wrongdoing until proven otherwise in a court of law.
