Inflationary pressures on projects is not corruption
In Melbourne, Premier Jacinta Allan finds herself at the intersection of ambition and accountability, defending a $100 billion infrastructure legacy against allegations that public money has flowed not only into concrete and steel, but into the hands of organized crime. The distinction she draws — between the cost of better wages and the cost of corruption — is one that democratic societies have long struggled to make cleanly, particularly when the figures involved reach into the billions. As calls for a royal commission grow louder from opposition leaders and former anti-corruption officials alike, the question beneath the question is an ancient one: at what point does institutional loyalty become institutional blindness?
- Fresh reporting by Nine newspapers and 60 Minutes alleges that gangland figures continued receiving payments from Victoria's flagship infrastructure projects even after two years of government-promised cleanup.
- A leaked consortium report reveals the CFMEU inflated Metro Tunnel labour costs by 22% above industry norms, with $196.4 million attributed to workers who performed no productive function — a figure the Premier says she had not read.
- Opposition leaders, a former ombudsman, and a former anti-corruption commissioner have united in calling the situation urgent, with one federal voice demanding a complete funding freeze until corrupt elements are excised.
- Allan holds the line, arguing that a royal commission means delayed action rather than real change, and pointing to 164 cancelled licences and 93 police charges as evidence that enforcement is already underway.
- Looming over the entire debate is a barrister's estimate — presented to a Queensland inquiry — that CFMEU-related corruption may have cost Victorian taxpayers as much as $15 billion, a figure the government has dismissed but declined to counter with one of its own.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan faced intense scrutiny on Monday over corruption allegations surrounding the state's $100 billion Big Build infrastructure program, refusing calls for a royal commission even as fresh reporting alleged that payments from major projects continued reaching organized crime figures. Her central defence rested on a careful distinction: rising costs driven by union demands, she argued, reflected better wages and safer conditions — not misconduct. "Inflationary pressures on projects is not corruption," she said, returning to the formulation repeatedly.
The pressure behind those words was considerable. A joint investigation by Nine newspapers and 60 Minutes reported that money from projects including the Metro Tunnel and Suburban Rail Loop had flowed to gangland figures despite two years of government cleanup efforts. More damaging still was a leaked consortium report, submitted to the government between 2022 and 2024, warning that the CFMEU had inflated Metro Tunnel labour costs by 22% above industry norms — with $196.4 million attributed to union-backed staffing demands for workers who performed no productive role. Allan acknowledged she had not read the report.
Allan had overseen the Big Build as infrastructure minister from 2018 to 2023 before becoming Premier. Her critics were not limited to the opposition: former ombudsman Deborah Glass and former IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich issued a joint statement calling a royal commission "urgently needed," while federal deputy opposition leader Jane Hume called for a funding pause on the projects entirely. Allan rejected both — the pause, she said, would immediately cost tens of thousands of workers their jobs, while a commission would substitute deliberation for action.
She pointed instead to existing enforcement: 164 construction licences cancelled and 93 police charges laid. When asked directly whether corruption was still occurring, she directed those with evidence to police, stating: "There is no evidence of government corruption on the Big Build." The figure that most unsettled that claim came from a Queensland inquiry, where barrister Geoffrey Watson SC estimated union-related corruption had cost Victorian taxpayers up to $15 billion. The Allan government called the figure unfounded — and when pressed for its own estimate, offered none.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan stood firm on Monday against mounting pressure to launch a royal commission into corruption allegations engulfing the state's $100 billion Big Build infrastructure program. When asked about fresh reporting detailing payments from the projects to organized crime figures, Allan offered a distinction: rising costs driven by union demands were not corruption, she said, but rather the price of better wages and safer working conditions.
The distinction matters because the stakes are enormous. A joint investigation by Nine newspapers and the television program 60 Minutes had just reported that money from Victoria's major infrastructure projects—including the Metro Tunnel and the Suburban Rail Loop—continued flowing to gangland figures even after two years of government cleanup efforts. More immediately damaging to Allan's position was the revelation of a leaked consortium report warning the state government between 2022 and 2024 that the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union had inflated labour costs on the Metro Tunnel by 22 percent above what industry norms would typically require. The contractors estimated $196.4 million in labour expenses were driven entirely by union-backed staffing demands, forcing them to employ additional workers who performed no productive function.
Allan had overseen the Big Build program as infrastructure minister from 2018 until 2023, before ascending to the premiership. At Monday's press conference, she acknowledged not having read the consortium's report. When pressed on the cost inflation, she reframed it as a feature rather than a bug—union members earned more because their employment came with superior wages, benefits, and safety protections. "That is a cost, but that is a cost that is about supporting those workers to do this work to deliver projects," she said. She returned repeatedly to the same formulation: "Inflationary pressures on projects is not corruption."
The opposition and former anti-corruption officials were not persuaded. Opposition leader Jess Wilson pointed to the Nine investigation as proof that "the corruption continues to happen today" under Allan's watch. Victoria's former ombudsman Deborah Glass and former Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission commissioner Robert Redlich issued a joint statement calling a royal commission "urgently needed." Federal deputy opposition leader Jane Hume went further, calling not only for a commission but for a pause on funding to the projects until corrupt elements could be removed.
Allan rejected the funding pause as economically reckless, warning it would immediately throw tens of thousands of workers out of jobs. She also resisted the royal commission, characterizing it as "a call for delayed action" that would not drive cultural change on work sites. Instead, she pointed to existing enforcement mechanisms: the Labour Hire Authority had cancelled 164 construction industry licenses over two years, and Victoria Police had laid 93 charges. When asked directly if corruption was still occurring on the Big Build, Allan said those with evidence should report it to police, adding: "There is no evidence of government corruption on the Big Build."
The figure haunting this debate is $15 billion. A report by barrister Geoffrey Watson SC, presented during Queensland's inquiry into the CFMEU in February, estimated that union-related corruption on the Big Build had cost Victorian taxpayers that sum. The Allan government dismissed the figure as "unfounded" at the time. When the ABC's 7.30 program pressed Allan this month for her own estimate of the cost, she declined to provide one. The Big Build itself began in 2015 following the election of Daniel Andrews' Labor government and encompasses major road and rail infrastructure across the state. What was meant to reshape Victoria's transport network has instead become a test of whether the government can contain a corruption scandal while maintaining public confidence in the projects themselves.
Citações Notáveis
There is no evidence of government corruption on the Big Build— Premier Jacinta Allan
The corruption continues to happen today. Payments are continuing to underworld figures under premier Jacinta Allan's watch— Opposition leader Jess Wilson
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Allan says union wages aren't corruption, what is she actually defending?
She's drawing a line between what she sees as legitimate labour costs and criminal misconduct. The problem is the evidence suggests contractors were forced to employ people who didn't do productive work—that's not just paying more for better conditions, that's paying for something that doesn't exist.
But doesn't she have a point that union workers deserve better pay?
They might. The real question is whether the government knew it was being forced to pay for phantom workers and accepted it anyway. The leaked report suggests they did know, and the consortium says they caved to union demands "with the Labor government's backing."
Why won't she call a royal commission if she's confident there's no government corruption?
That's the tension everyone's pointing to. If the government did nothing wrong, a commission would clear them. If she's worried about what it might find, that silence speaks louder than her denials.
What does the $15 billion figure mean if it's real?
It means the public paid that much extra for infrastructure that should have cost less. Whether that's corruption or coercion or negligence, the taxpayer absorbed it either way.
Can she survive this politically?
That depends on whether the public sees her as defending workers or defending a system that let organized crime profit from public money. Right now she's trying to be both, and it's not working.