Victoria’s $100 billion “Big Build” was meant to be the defining legacy of a government that has staked its political future on cranes over the skyline. Instead, it is becoming a byword for the kind of allegations more familiar to a royal commission than a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
In recent months a cascade of claims involving alleged bikie-linked subcontractors, allegations of standover tactics on work sites, and long-running scrutiny of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union has turned the state’s flagship infrastructure program into a political liability. For a government that built its brand on tunnels, train lines and level crossing removals, the question now being asked in Spring Street is whether the Big Build has become too big a problem to contain.
What is the “Big Build” and why does it matter #
The Big Build is the state government’s umbrella term for a suite of major transport projects, including the Metro Tunnel, the West Gate Tunnel, the Suburban Rail Loop and the ongoing removal of level crossings across Melbourne. Successive Victorian budgets have poured tens of billions of dollars into the program, which the government has repeatedly described as the largest transport infrastructure investment in the state’s history.
Because the projects are publicly funded and delivered through a mix of government agencies and private contractors, cost overruns and probity concerns are not simply commercial matters — they are matters of public accountability. Any suggestion that criminal or corrupt influence has affected how contracts are awarded, how workers are placed on sites, or how costs have escalated, goes directly to how taxpayer money is being spent.
The allegations at the centre of the scandal #
VCN understands that scrutiny has focused on two related threads. The first concerns allegations that individuals with alleged links to outlaw motorcycle gangs and other organised crime networks have secured work or influence on Big Build sites, including through subcontracting arrangements. The second concerns long-standing allegations that the CFMEU has used its industrial position to influence which companies win work, and at what cost, on major projects.
Victoria Police has not confirmed the detail of any specific investigation into individual site arrangements, and no findings of criminal conduct have been made public in relation to these broader allegations. Sources close to the investigation have told VCN that multiple state and federal agencies, including those with a organised crime and financial crime remit, have taken an interest in the sector. It is understood that any such inquiries remain at an early stage.
None of the individuals or entities referred to in connection with these broader industry allegations have been charged in relation to the specific claims reported here. Under Victorian law, allegations are not findings of fact, and anyone ultimately charged is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The CFMEU’s federal administration #
The allegations sit against the backdrop of the federal government’s decision last year to place the CFMEU’s construction division into administration, following claims aired in parliament and in media reporting of standover conduct, alleged bikie links and allegations of intimidation on building sites nationally. That administration remains in place, and administrators have been progressively reporting on findings as they work through the union’s Victorian branch and other state divisions.
The CFMEU has previously said it supports action against genuine criminal conduct within the industry but has disputed broad characterisations of the union itself as corrupt. VCN is not asserting that any individual union official has engaged in criminal conduct; where such allegations have been made publicly by police, regulators or in court documents, they are reported here as allegations only.
Why costs are back in the spotlight #
Budget blowouts on major Big Build projects have been a recurring political story for years, with the West Gate Tunnel and the Metro Tunnel both subject to public reporting of cost increases well beyond original estimates. What has changed is the emerging argument, put by some industry figures and referenced in federal administration findings, that at least part of those blowouts may be linked to alleged industrial practices rather than ordinary construction risk.
The state government has consistently defended its infrastructure spending as necessary investment in a growing city, and has pointed to independent bodies such as Infrastructure Victoria and probity auditors already embedded in major projects. Treasury and the Department of Transport and Planning have not been reported as making findings of corrupt conduct on any specific project, and VCN has sought comment from the department in relation to current probity arrangements.
What accountability bodies are doing #
Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, IBAC, has statutory power to investigate corrupt conduct involving public officers and public sector contracts, including in the infrastructure sector. IBAC has not publicly confirmed an active investigation specific to the Big Build allegations reported in recent months, and any findings from an IBAC inquiry, if one were underway, would ordinarily only become public following a formal report tabled in parliament.
The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office has separately and repeatedly examined major project cost performance, including the West Gate Tunnel and level crossing removal programs, through its regular value-for-money audit function. Those audit reports are public documents and are considered by VCN to be reliable, privileged sources for reporting on cost and governance issues, as distinct from the more contested organised-crime allegations circulating in the media.
The political stakes for the government #
For the Allan government, the danger is less about any single allegation and more about accumulation. A government that has spent a decade telling Victorians that Big Build project pain — lane closures, level crossing works, years of disruption — would be worth it for a transformed transport network is now facing a narrative in which the same projects are associated with organised crime and alleged union corruption in the public mind.
Opposition MPs have used parliamentary question time to press the government on what it knew about alleged organised crime involvement in subcontracting arrangements and when. The government has responded by pointing to existing probity frameworks, the Australian Federal Police-led work on the CFMEU nationally, and its in-principle support for stronger vetting of contractors on state projects. No minister has been alleged to have engaged in personal wrongdoing, and VCN is not suggesting otherwise.
What happens next #
The federal administration of the CFMEU is continuing, with further reporting expected as administrators work through the union’s state branches. Any IBAC or police inquiries, if and when they progress to charges or public findings, would be reported by VCN on the basis of court documents, official statements or tabled reports, consistent with our standard practice of relying on privileged, attributable sources.
For now, the scandal remains one of allegation, parliamentary pressure and regulatory scrutiny rather than proven fact. Whether it derails the Big Build program itself, or simply damages the government’s political standing around it, will depend on what the ongoing administration, any IBAC examination and Victoria Police ultimately find — and what, if anything, is tested in a courtroom.
The matter is currently the subject of ongoing regulatory and administrative processes. No individual or organisation named in this report has been charged with a criminal offence in connection with the specific allegations described, and all parties are entitled to a presumption of innocence unless and until a court finds otherwise.
Readers with information relevant to alleged criminal conduct on Victorian construction sites can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
