A witness at the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption who was arrested in Canberra on Wednesday night has been granted bail.
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Tuungafasi Manase of Evatt, was arrested about 7pm on Wednesday and faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday morning, accused of intentionally giving evidence that he knew to be false of misleading during a commission hearing earlier this month.
His lawyer, Toni Tu'ulakitau, indicated the 29-year-old would plead not guilty to the perjury charge.
Mr Manase will need to surrender his passport, report to police, not leave the ACT, and not approach witnesses as part of his bail conditions.
He will reappear in court on October 19.
Mr Manase is a non-financial member of the CFMEU, but not an employee of the union.
The arrest comes two weeks after former Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union organiser Halafihi "Fihi" Kivalu was arrested after giving evidence at the commission. He has since been released on bail after pleading not guilty to two counts of blackmail.
The exact nature of the allegations were not set out in court, but Mr Manase gave evidence on the second day of the Canberra hearings of the royal commission earlier this month.
His boss, formwork contractor Elias Taleb, had told the commission he had paid Mr Kivalu about $135,000 to guarantee he won contracts.
He provided the commission with a note that contained a list of alleged bribes paid to Mr Kivalu.
Mr Taleb claimed Mr Manase had penned the document.
But Mr Manase denied the note had been his handwriting.
He was warned of his obligations to tell the truth under oath and warned of the consequences.
Commissioner Dyson Heydon then ordered Mr Manase be handed a blank piece of paper and a pen and dictated a note, so the handwriting could be compared.
Outside court, Mr Tu'ulakitau said his client had been pleased to be granted bail.
But Mr Tu'ulakitau would not be drawn on the details of the charge.
"We're waiting for the brief of evidence which should be provided to our office before October and then we're back in court," Mr Tu'ulakitau said.
"I can't talk about the charge at this stage, we'll just see what unfolds and what police have to say.
"We're just waiting to see what the brief of evidence says and we'll go from there."
Mr Manase's arrest was the third made in relation to the royal commission's Canberra hearings after former Canberra Raiders rugby league player and construction union organiser John Lomax was arrested last week and charged with blackmail ahead of his listed appearance before the commission.
