Allan promoted her IBAC action on CFMEU, knowing it wasn’t going to do anything

Premier Jacinta Allan knew 16 months ago that Victoria’s corruption watchdog would not investigate her referral about organised crime and graft on taxpayer-funded projects, but kept promoting the move as evidence she was tackling the problem.

The revelation comes as a Big Build contractor and Labor donor alleged that expensive utes and jet-skis had been given to project managers on the state’s signature $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop, a claim the project authority denied.

As the Premier brushed off questions about companies caught up in the CFMEU scandal donating to her party, Labor faces a difficult choice in parliament this week when the Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers push to give the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission wider powers to follow money trails.

Allan on Sunday released a letter she wrote to the IBAC in July 2024 after organised crime infiltration and coercion on Big Build projects was revealed by The Age, the Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes.

That prompted a rare response from IBAC, confirming it could not investigate Allan’s referral because it was outside the watchdog’s jurisdiction.

After questions from media, the premier’s office revealed on Tuesday she was told this in late 2024.

The timeline is awkward for Allan, who only last week pointed to her referral when questioned about a damning report into the CFMEU from integrity expert Geoffrey Watson, SC, which accused the government of turning a blind eye to the union’s excesses – including sexual exploitation and drug distribution on taxpayer-funded projects.

Watson estimated the CFMEU’s conduct and government inaction had added $15 billion to the Big Build’s cost, a claim the premier denies as untested. The Fair Work Commission has separately provided a similar estimate.

At a feisty press conference on Tuesday, Allan defended her initial 2024 response, saying she took “a number of actions” including referrals to Victoria Police and the Fair Work Commission.

She said the allegations against the CFMEU were serious and needed to be thoroughly investigated, and that criminal matters were best handled by Victoria Police.

“As a result of the independent review that I commissioned is that now, among a range of actions, Victoria Police are chairing an alliance that involves the federal police, it involves the Fair Work Commission and other relevant agencies,” she said.

Former IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich on Tuesday told Sky News the premier and her department should have known the agency did not have the necessary powers and backed calls for a royal commission.

The developments have given fresh impetus to a parliamentary push to give IBAC the follow-the-money powers it has sought, which would help them trace taxpayer funds through Big Build supply chains.

The opposition announced it would to give IBAC these powers as soon as possible, either through its own bill or supporting one from the government.

“IBAC must have the powers to chase down this money. We want IBAC to chase every single cent that has been ripped off from Victorian taxpayers,” shadow attorney-general James Newbury said.

The issue could come to a head this week with a Greens move to amend a bill before the parliament to give the watchdog these powers.

Two sources, speaking anonymously to detail private conversations, told The Age the amendment was expected to pass the upper house, with Coalition and crossbench backing.

The bill would return to the lower house where Labor could use its majority to remove the amendment but then face criticism for voting against powers that IBAC has itself requested.

Greens leader Ellen Sandell said there was a major gap in the system.

“This level of corruption on Labor’s major construction projects in Victoria is astounding. To stop this happening, we need to fix Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog and that means giving IBAC the power to follow public money wherever it’s being spent,” she said.

On Tuesday, a Big Build contractor under scrutiny for its ties to gangland figure Mick Gatto and a donation it gave Victoria’s Labor Party lashed out, claiming the company was one of many firms that bankrolled the government’s election and that focus should be on corruption.

In a message Anthony Ciccone sent to The Age after it was revealed he donated $3264 to the Victorian ALP in 2022, the veteran construction industry figure queried why there had been no reporting about a different major subcontractor he alleged had gifted utes and jet-skis to Suburban Rail Loop project managers.

Ciccone said the contractor was removed from the project “for giving Toyota SR5 utes to general superintendents as gifts”, as well as three jet-skis.

A Suburban Rail Loop Authority spokesperson said anyone with information about unacceptable or criminal conduct should report it.

The Victorian government has committed about one-third of the $34.5 billion anticipated total cost of the Suburban Rail Loop’s first stage. It has secured $2.2 billion from the federal government, which is expected to contribute more in the May budget.

The state government plans to fund the final third through parking levies, existing land taxes and developer charges.

Ciccone, who owns Cycon Civil and co-owns labour hire firm Project Labour Solutions (PLS), also questioned why other political donors who worked as contractors on Labor’s signature infrastructure scheme had not been identified.

Where are “all the other companies that donated?” Ciccone said in his message.

Ciccone’s comments came after The Age reported on Tuesday that Victorian Labor had collected thousands of dollars in donations from firms that now face police action over suspected corrupt payments or that placed gangland, bikie or CFMEU identities on taxpayer-funded projects.

The donors include a traffic management firm on Labor’s $100 billion Big Build program, whose owner has been charged by Victoria Police’s anti-corruption and gangland building industry taskforce; another Big Build subcontractor facing a federal police probe for allegedly bribing a corrupt CFMEU boss; and the owners of two Big Build firms represented by gangland figure Mick Gatto.

Allan said donations were a party matter, but the payments were lawful and appropriately declared.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said donations were a matter for the party.

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