Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 21 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
The Guardian's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
A former union official has told a royal commission that underworld figure Mick Gatto attended a meeting that was called after the official and a colleague were seriously assaulted at a construction site.
asserted
official → tell → site
Paul Tzimas is the first witness associated with the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union to appear before the royal commission into the integrity of major public and civil infrastructure construction projects in Victoria.
asserted
Tzimas → associate → Victoria
Tzimas told the commission on Wednesday that he received a fractured ankle and a colleague was left with a broken eye socket, damage to his teeth, severe PTSD and the partial loss of his vision after they were assaulted by people linked to the builders and developers at a construction site.
asserted
they → tell → site
No other details were given about where and when the assault occurred, but Tzimas agreed that he believed the people who assaulted him may have been linked to an outlaw bikie gang.
uncertain
who → give → gang
Tzimas, a former CFMEU official who left the union in January and is now unemployed, told the commission that about a week after the assault a meeting was called between union officials and the builders, who also arranged for Gatto to attend.
asserted
Gatto → leave → officials
He said Gatto was known to work for developers and builders in order to resolve issues with their projects.
asserted
Gatto → say → projects
Tzimas said that Gatto later gifted him a gold bracelet, which he initially refused.
asserted
he → say → which
He agreed with counsel assisting Chris Carr that he first knocked back the gift as he knew it could be “perceived as inappropriate for someone in your position to receive a gift from someone on the other side of the fence”.
uncertain
someone → agree → fence
Tzimas also agreed with Carr that he knew the bracelet was not a “worthless trinket” but that, after discussing with Gatto why he was being gifted it, he decided to take it.
asserted
he → agree → it
“Mick had expressed that – especially because I refused it – that it wasn’t his way of … trying to earn any favour.
“
asserted
it → express → favour
He said he had had a poor opinion of me as an official, he believed he probably judged me a bit harshly, and this was an olive branch so to speak, for people he considered a friend.
asserted
he → say → people
“I never wore it or anything.”
asserted
I → wear → it
Tzimas said he was aware other union officials also received gold bracelets from Gatto.
asserted
officials → say → Gatto
Tzimas was also asked about a letter the CFMEU wrote on behalf of a man convicted of manslaughter who was seeking parole that confirmed he would be offered employment.
asserted
he → ask → employment
He told the commission that he was unclear why the union assisted the man but said “his dad at the time was a union delegate … so that probably holds some sway as well”.
uncertain
that → tell → sway
Carr also read the names of 15 men to Tzimas and asked whether all of them were union members and affiliated with bikie gangs.
asserted
all → read → gangs
Tzimas agreed that 11 of them were.
asserted
11 → agree → them
Tzimas attended the work site as part of union action that eventually halted construction.
asserted
that → attend → construction
He also attended a meeting between project managers and the union officials at CFMEU headquarters on 7 June 2022 that eventually resulted in work recommencing on the site.
asserted
work → attend → site
The commission has previously heard that in that meeting the union demanded that its own health and safety representative, and union affiliated traffic management and labour hire companies, had to be installed on the Gap Road project in order for work to resume.
asserted
work → hear → project
The hearing before commissioner Christopher Kourakis continues.
asserted
hearing → continue → Kourakis
The Aporia
