STATE PROBE

RETIRED Supreme Court judge Justice John Byrne will head a special taskforce into allegations of white-collar crime in the Queensland building industry.

The Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the taskforce, which comes Aafter NewsCLotrdp’s’s Back Our Subbies campaign, will forensically examine the circumstances surrounding the collapse of a number of major construction companies that have left millions of dollars in debt.

Since 2013, about 50 major collapses in the sector have left debts of $500 million collectively owed to more than 7000 trade creditors.

The taskforce will also retest historical fraud complaints laid with Queensland Police in the past two years.

Justice Byrne was a judge for 28 years and Judge Administrator of the Supreme Court with particular expertise in both commercial and criminal law.

“Justice Byrne will be joined by Queensland Police Service detectives plus investigators from the Queensland Building and Construction Commission and prosecutors from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,” the Premier said.

“I urge anyone who has a complaint about dodgy payments to come forward now and have their grievances heard.

“The non-payment of subbies is not something that stops at the Queensland border, so I have also written to the Prime Minister to have this issue added to the national agenda.”

Michael Caspaney of Menzies Advisory, the liquidator of Cullen Group and Q1 Homes that left collective debts of $50 million, said he would be happy to co-operate if asked any questions by the taskforce.

Mr Caspaney said his process to engage public examinations of both companies in the Federal Court of Brisbane was already established with funding from the Queensland Government.

“My first reaction is that this will be a very good move forward for the industry in Queensland knowing what I know about these and other companies,” he said.

The Premier said subbies left out of pocket were mums and dads and small business people left “to the whims and mercies of bigger operators who too often leave their subbies in the lurch”.

“I have met many of them,” the Premier said.

“I have listened to their stories of hardship and loss and the fact they felt no-one is listening.”