Ms McNaughnton is delivering an opening address for the Commission's hearings today.

Today's hearings will focus on new matters involving the CFMEU NSW Branch.

Ms McNaughton's opening address will be published here shortly.

We will hear about new secret commission / bribery allegations involving Brian Parker.   Further the Commission will hear evidence about benefits given or money paid to the CFMEU  for use by the CFMEU in a corrupt manner.

The first witness is the CFMEU Organiser 

He works for the CFMEU where unless I'm very much mistaken the business is conducted in English.

He requires, however, the services of a translator for the Commission, both he and the translator have given the affirmation in lieu of being sworn in .

Ms McNaughton asked quite reasonably if Mr Zhou, who has been a CFMEU organiser since 2008, would be prepared to answer her questions in English where possible, using the interpreter only when necessary.   He refused - a very simple "No:.

His duties involve dealing with Chinese workers in the internal decorations of newly constructed buildings, his CFMEU position is Organiser for the Gyprock industry.

He states he is also involved in immigration matters for Chinese workers.

He would not be drawn on naming the bosses of the target company of the Commission's current enquiries which sounds like foxtel (it is not the payTV company, it's a Chinese construction entity of some kind).

Ms McNaughton asked him in the absence of further and better particulars to describe the two major bosses each called George.   She prompted him again to deliver the descriptions.

He said, "One is big.  One is small.   One is young, one is older".

How do you communicate with them?  "By phone".

Do you have their phone numbers?   "Yes".

Can you give the numbers to the Commission, "No I don't have them."

Are they in your phone? "No".

He's changed his story several times now - his phone was smashed, a broken screen, he regularly changes phones, he doesn't store numbers etc etc.

 

At 10.24 Ms McNaughton's opening address was published - here's a copy which should help for reference purposes.

 

The Witness can't remember if the Foxville group of companies has been in trouble with Fair Work Australia.   Can't recall.  Not even this.

It now emerges that Brian Parker knew the two Georges from Foxville (one old, one young, one fat, one thin) before Mr Zhou came to work for the CFMEU.

And Mr Zhou also knew the two Georges from Foxville (one fat, one old, one young, one thin).

Mr Zhou went to work for the CFMEU!

He is the only bloke there who can speak Mandarin.

http://www.foxville.com.au/georgest.html

Ms McNaughton asked Mr No-English-Pleaase Zhou to listen to this phone intercept.

 

Mr Zhou doesn't know a lot about any much at all.   Could be tall George, could be Short.

He's given name after name of people who seem to be associated with the two Georges, Brian Parker a Mr Nye or similar and others.   Mr Zhou can't recall.

He's now been given a list of phone numbers - said to be numbers associated with services in his own name and controlled by him.   He recognises some, not others.

Ms McNaughton, "Do you see that your number is shown in multiple contacts with Short George, whom the Commission considers to be George Yan."

Mr Zhou thought that was possible.

Mr Zhou explains having so many different numbers by saying he separates his personal and business life.   Must separate it quite a lot, way down into lots of tiny bits, each bit using a different mobile phone in its transactions.

Ms McNaughton, "Do you know Short George in a personal friendship capacity then?"

Mr Zhou says he is a mentor, a guide and they are very close.   Ms McNaughton, "But you don't know his surname?"

Sadly for Short George, the friendship is not of sufficient warmth, intimacy, proximity nor profundity to admit the inclusion of surnames into the close friends shared understanding of each other.

 

Mr Zhou definitely can't recall the Fair Work proceedings we published above.    He has ANFI about them, even though he now admits to the authenticity of multiple contacts with Short George during the period the proceedings were under way.

这家伙正在小便出来我们

Ms McNaughton now moves to another company JQZ.

http://www.jqz.com.au

Mr Zhou was asked one of the principals of JQZ Jian Qui.   Mr Zhou doesn't really know how well he knows him,.   He can't recall whether he's met him. or if he has met him then he does't know how many times, he thinks that for one year it never would be more than twice, but he didn't keep a log.

INTRODUCTION

JQZ is a successful Sydney based property development company with our own in-house building business established solely to undertake our construction works. This integration provides us with strict quality control over all projects. Since our inception we have grown substantially while still diligently maintaining the important family values instilled by our founder and Managing Director Jian Qiu Zhang.

With a strong focus on safety, quality and ethics, JQZ embraces changes and advancements within the industry and thrives on innovation, continuous improvement and best building practices. This allows us to deliver superior properties which any prospective purchaser would be proud to own.

HISTORY

JQZ (predecessor “Tong Group”) was established in 2010 by widely experienced property development expert Jianqiu Zhang, and now have grew to become one of New South Wales’ most prestigious Australian-Chinese based providers of development and construction services. Our key personnel each have more than 20 years individual local experience in a wide range of large-scale residential, commercial and retail projects.

 

Mr Zhou has absolutely no idea about whether the JQZ companies associated with Mr Jian have an or any EBAs with the CFMEU.   No idea.   Can't recall.   It's not that he doesn't know, nor is it that he knows it doesn't, he just can't recall either way whether the major constructor in his personal area of responsibviilty.

Ms McNaughton, "I'll just ask you again, can you recall whether there have any been any discussions with Mr Jian about his company entering into an EBA with the CFMEU."

Zhou, "I can't recall, even though a colleague of mine may have asked me to interpret for him at a meeting with Mr Jian."

McNaughton, "A colleague of yours - who?"

Zhou (always through interpreter), "Rebel Hanlon".

Then he adds through interpreter, "But I did not say that he did, he is the Assistant Secretary and I am not saying that he did meet with Mr Jian.   But he is responsible for any meeting."

He then adds Brian Parker to the list of CFMEU people who've met with Mr Jian.

Zhou, "Brian Parker asked me to interpret for him and I did.  That's my answer.  More than once (how many times?) I can't recall"

He settle on a number of meetings per year not more than 10 between Parker and Jian.

McNaughton, "Can you recall the topic of conversation between Mr Parker and Mr Jian at any or all of those meetings?"

Zhou, "Nothing, I can't recall".

"I remember the first meeting when people were getting to know each other to respect each other and to get to know each other's duties".

Ms Mcnaughton, "If you accept from me that none of the Jian companies has an EBA with the CFMEU, what do you say was being discussed at the 8 or so meetings you had every year?"

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Yulei Zhou, or Michael Zhou has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/michaelyulei.zhou/

He has no problem with English there, I don't know how "F*ck Tony Abbott" or calling Christopher Pyne a piece of "dog shit" translates into Mandarin but mr Zhou has no drama publishing it in English on his Facebook page.

His aspirations in the car department are right up there with his Chinese property developer mates Short George, Tall George and international man of mystery Mr Jian.

 

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Mr Zhou can now recall the formwork company associated with Mr Jian, 

http://rockform.com.au

Mr Zhou states that he can't recall any of the conversations between Mr Parker and Mr Jian.

When pressed he states the only things that were discussed were safety and workers entitlement.

Pressed much further with Ms McNaughton making clear that she wanted to talk about a particular meeting she clearly has some knowledge about, Mr Zhou started to open up a bit.

Ms McNaughton, "What about a meeting towards the end of last year?"

It is now common knowledge that Parker's phone was off during that time,

Mr Zhou, "There was also some discussion about donations for the CFMEU picnic."

It turns out there was a $10,000 donation given to Mr Parker for the CFMEU picnic.

Mr Zhou was a part of that conversation.

He can't think of anything in particular, he can only say roughly that he can't remember any word.

He now can't recall if Parker was there.  At the meeting with Mr Jian it's now apparent that only Jiang and Zhou the CFMEU guy were there.

Now it's up to $30,000.

Ms McNaughton continued to press her points home.

Ms McNaughton, "Did you ask Mr Jian for a donation for a safety campaign because you knew he was in construction?'

Mr Zhou, "yes."

Ms Mcnaughton, "Do you recall any other donations of that size, (referring to the $30K donation?"

Zhou, "Yes - in early 2013 or 2012 there was a cheque of $30,000 being written out to CFMEU.   I remember this was a big figure."

He "can't recall" having a discussion with Mr Jian about it.

He's now been shown reams of telephone call records showing lengthy and regular connections between his phone and Mr Jian (I am writing that name phonetically) as well as text messages).

Even with the evidence in front of him, Mr Zhou can't recall any of the conversations.   He agrees he was the only person who could speak Mandarin and the only interpreter available to others within the NSW CFMEU branch.

When he said he couldn't recall, Ms McNaughton said, "Really?" 

真的吗？

Magnificent.

Mr Zhou is attempting to maintain now the fiction that Mr Jian was a developer only and not a builder.   Ms McNaughton now refers him to a folder containing a printout of the material we published some hour or so ago above about Mr Jian's JQZ group and it's capabilities, she read from it:

INTRODUCTION

JQZ is a successful Sydney based property development company with our own in-house building business established solely to undertake our construction works. This integration provides us with strict quality control over all projects. Since our inception we have grown substantially while still diligently maintaining the important family values instilled by our founder and Managing Director Jian Qiu Zhang.

With a strong focus on safety, quality and ethics, JQZ embraces changes and advancements within the industry and thrives on innovation, continuous improvement and best building practices. This allows us to deliver superior properties which any prospective purchaser would be proud to own.

HISTORY

JQZ (predecessor “Tong Group”) was established in 2010 by widely experienced property development expert Jianqiu Zhang, and now have grew to become one of New South Wales’ most prestigious Australian-Chinese based providers of development and construction services. Our key personnel each have more than 20 years individual local experience in a wide range of large-scale residential, commercial and retail projects.

Ms McNaughton focussed on the "in house building" capability.

She now turns to ASIC and other records describing companies associated with Mr Jian.

Southpack or similar is one of them, Ms McNaughton is showing Mr Zhou each of an apparently extensive pile of cheques from various Jian companies made out for "donations" to various payees, many of them endorsed with Mr Zhou's handwriting.

Mr Zhou made a lengthy Chinese soliloquy describing the tragedy of a fire in Bankstown in which Chinese student(s) were killed - Mr Zhou claims to have been a Chinese student in Australia himself. He states that he negotiated a donation from Mr Jian because of the tragedy, apparently it for a donation to the CFMEU rather than the students, but it was the vibe.   Don't know how that translated.

Now cheques made out to a CFMEU fighting fund.   Heaps of them.

Apparently mere picnic money went to the CFMEU itself - the real money in $30,000 chunks we're talking about now went to the CFMEU Fight Fund.

Ms McNaughton, after Mr Zhou's initial disinclination to give her an answer gave a lengthy statement to the interpreter.

He was just following instructions.   When Ms McNaughton asked a question to confirm the Nuremberg defence - well it must have been lost in translation because now he wasn't following instructions from "the leaders".

McNaughton, "Was there any possiblity that if Southpack constructions paid $30,000 to the CFMEU they would not have to enter into an EBA with the CFMEU?"

Zhou is unusually prompt and certain, "Absolutely not.   i think myself and my colleagues and my leaders would have have had such ideas.   If you I ask me to think about the ideas, I cannot because we would never have such ideas.   if I ever spoke to Mr Jian about donations we would never discuss numbers for donations."

Mr Zhou was shown an account for a $10,000   donation made out to the Friends of Sinn Fein in Australia and which was settled by a cheque from Mr Jian.   Mr Zhou has given evidence that he sought and received the money from Mr Jian at the request of "My Secretary (presumably Mr Parker)".

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