I understand why Victorians want clear answers about the Big Build.
So let me be clear: I know our investment was worth it, and the evidence is all around us.
Today, children are learning in 121 new public schools.
Patients are being treated in 11 new public hospitals.
Thousands of commuters use the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel every hour.
Ninety-one level crossings are gone, more are going, and local roads are being upgraded across Victoria.
The North East Link, Airport Rail and Suburban Rail Loop are getting built.
Ten years ago, delivering infrastructure on this scale – and in such a short period – was considered impossible. Governments delayed and dithered for too long.
Labor made a different choice. We decided to get on with the job, and it was the right decision. But we know that not everything went right along the way. Like every state and every major economy, Victoria experienced inflation over the past decade.
The pandemic disrupted global supply chains, construction materials became dramatically more expensive, and labour costs increased everywhere.
Fair wages, good conditions and safe workplaces all cost money, and they’re worth it. None of that excuses what happened next.
Anyone who built or renovated a home knows exactly what I mean. That’s not corruption, that’s inflation. These pressures affected projects across Australia, and independent economists have found Victoria’s construction cost inflation was lower than other states.
Some of the increased costs were higher wages, but that’s not corruption, either. Unions and employers negotiate wages through the enterprise bargaining system, and those agreements are approved under federal law by the Fair Work Commission.
Fair wages, good conditions and safe workplaces all cost money, and they’re worth it.
None of that excuses what happened next.
Inflation is one issue, criminality is another and there should be no confusion between the two. We now know that criminals operated on some of Victoria’s construction sites.
There was violence, intimidation and organised criminal behaviour. That is shocking and unacceptable. It should never have happened.
It does not represent the overwhelming majority of decent, dedicated, proud union workers on these projects. But it still happened. I accept that.
I’m deeply sorry that it happened on projects funded by the Victorian people. Now the question is how we stop it happening again.
The answer is to enforce the law. We gave Victoria Police stronger powers to investigate this criminal conduct. They have now laid more than 90 criminal charges.
We gave the Labour Hire Authority stronger powers to cancel construction licences. It has done so for 164 firms. The CFMEU was put into administration, and I kicked them out of the Victorian Labor Party.
Construction companies working on government projects are now required to report suspected criminal behaviour, workers have stronger whistleblower protections, and state agencies share intelligence with the federal government so nothing falls between the cracks.
IBAC will be granted powers to follow the money wherever it leads – and those powers will be retrospective, covering my government and previous governments.
Still, there is more work to do. Some argue the answer is another royal commission.
We’ve tried that before. Australia held a royal commission into trade unions in the last decade. It cost $46 million, went after workers, achieved only one criminal conviction, and didn’t change the culture.
If the goal is another report, another royal commission will deliver one. If the goal is changing behaviour on worksites, changing the culture is the answer. Ask someone working on a construction site today, and they’ll tell youit is changing.
Because every charge laid, every licence cancelled and every worker who feels safe enough to report wrongdoing is a step towards a safer construction industry.
Victorians are entitled to expect two things from their government. They should expect us to build the schools, hospitals and roads our growing state needs, and they should expect us to confront criminal behaviour. Those responsibilities go together.
We should never excuse criminality because important projects are being built. Equally, we shouldn’t dismiss because of the actions of criminals the projects that have transformed our state.
Victorians can see the success of the Big Build for themselves. They see the new schools educating their children. They see the new hospitals treating their parents. They can travel through the Metro Tunnel and the West Gate Tunnel.
These investments will change our state forever. Now, we have an equally important responsibility: ensuring Victorians have confidence those projects are built safely and lawfully.
Cleaning up the industry, while getting on and delivering the schools, hospitals, roads and public transport Victorians need, is exactly what we are doing.
Jacinta Allan is the premier of Victoria and the member for Bendigo East.
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