Victoria Inquiry Begins Public Hearings on Infrastructure Corruption

Public hearings for Victoria's royal commission examining allegations of corruption on government building sites have begun in Melbourne. It comes as the state's election campaign enters the final three-week stretch ahead of polling day on November 28. Counsel assisting Chris Young KC covers what the royal commission has already uncovered in its preliminary work. Mr Young says more than 110,000 documents have already been requested by the commission, and hundreds of notices have been sent out. Secret hearings have also been held already, with witnesses interviewed in private.

Inquiry Details

The commission wrote to 99 companies, organisations and other entities to invite early written submissions about corruption, criminal conduct or serious misconduct. As of last week, 45 companies responded and three declined. Counsel assisting Chris Young told the hearing that several responses disclosed conduct appearing to be misconduct, corruption, or crime, including allegations of organised crime involvement and fraud such as invoices for shifts not worked. Other responses were not helpful, and at least one company response could not be reconciled with what a director later said under compulsion.

Gap Road Project

The hearing today examines the events of June 2022 at the Gap Road project in Sunbury. The project involved the removal of a level crossing and the construction of a new rail bridge and underpass as part of the Sunbury Line Upgrade. On June 6 and 7 in 2022, there was a work stoppage. After a meeting at the CFMEU offices on June 7, work resumed with control of the site transferred to the union. The royal commission will investigate what occurred, what arrangements were made, what they cost and what the government knew. The project was completed by an alliance including CPB and John Holland, and former premier Jacinta Allan was minister for transport when the union took over the site.

Political Impact

Establishing the royal commission was Ben Carroll's first act as premier, distancing him from predecessor Jacinta Allan. But any hope the public would reward Labor for calling the inquiry quickly evaporated, as the government did not receive a poll bounce from changing leaders. Lawyers representing former premiers Jacinta Allan and Daniel Andrews are present at the commission, and Jacinta Allan could be called to give evidence at some stage.

Context

Royal commissions are formal public inquiries set up by governments to investigate matters of urgent public importance with sweeping legal powers. In Australia, these bodies can compel witnesses to give evidence under oath and demand documents, though they do not prosecute crimes themselves. This inquiry focuses heavily on infrastructure delivery and union involvement on major state public works.