The son of accused drug carrier Robert Mcjannett has spoken of the shock he felt on returning to Perth alone from a father and son trip to Bali.
Josh Daly, 21, was with his father Mcjannett when the prominent trade unionist was arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport on December 28.
Crane operator McJannett, and rigger Mr Daly, had worked together on a construction site at the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson, south of Perth, immediately before departing for Bali.
Mr Daly said he was still in a state of shock when he returned to work at Henderson soon after arriving home on January 3.
“It was totally devastating,” he said of his father’s arrest for allegedly carrying 1.7 grams of marijuana into Indonesia.
“At first I got to Perth and I didn’t know anything was happening because I thought (Mcjannett) was with me, but then the reality set in.
“Who wouldn’t get upset in that situation?”
Mcjannett has denied the allegations and called upon the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union of which he is a member to set up a fighting fund to clear his name.
The CFMEU’s West Australian Assistant Secretary, Joe McDonald, whose office Mcjannett contested at the past two union elections, says the unionist’s arrest is not a matter for the union.
CFMEU National Secretary John Sutton did not return WAtoday.com.au calls yesterday.
Mr Daly refused to comment on the events surrounding his father’s arrest, for fear of jeopardising Mcjannett’s defence. But he did describe how his father came to be in Bali.
“We decided to go on holidays, just me and my old man,” Mr Daly said.
“We don’t see each other much because we’re so busy working.
“We were going to go to that Waterbom Park, and everything, and check the whole thing out.”
But Mr Daly’s first ever trip to Bali turned sour and he is now dealing with his father’s incarceration – first in Polda police headquarters and since yesterday afternoon at Kerobokan Prison – largely on his own.
“A lot of people know my dad and they keep coming up to me and saying they’re sorry but I don’t want to hear it,” he said.
“My mates keep ringing up and say ‘I heard the news’.
“After a while it gets a bit sickening.
“I don’t want them to get involved in this.”
Mcjannett yesterday told WAtoday.com.au that he was estranged from his ex-wife, and that his two daughters “don’t know what is going on” in relation to his arrest.
Mr Daly said he had not seen his two sisters since returning to Perth.
“I know my sisters miss him, even though I haven’t seen them,” he said.
“I haven’t really seen them for a while.
“I have a house to pay off and was straight back to work.”
He described his relationship with his father as “tight”.
“We’re very good mates,” he said.
“I know he’s in (jail) but my focus is on helping him as much as I can.”
Since Mr Daly has been back in Perth, that help has been limited to providing moral support on the “one or two” occasions Mcjannett has called since the arrest.
Mr Daly said he was dealing with his father’s incarceration one day at a time.
“It’s a bit hard without Dad,” he said.
“It’s like a good mate’s been taken away for a while.
“He showed me pretty much how to be a man.”