Wednesday, 9 September 2026

 Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (18:41): I did need a little bit of a break, so I am very happy to return with 7½ minutes to go.

Brad Battin interjected.

Gary MAAS: Yes, indeed, member for Berwick. I am happy to continue in making my contribution in support of the Inquiries Amendment (Special Prosecutor) Bill 2026. Where we left off in my last instalment was with the office of the special prosecutor. Importantly, a royal commission does not have the power to charge or prosecute anyone. It can compel evidence and make findings, but it cannot put people before a court. So this bill will provide the Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects in Victoria with a specialist, someone who is dedicated and embedded to work in real time so there is a resource there as evidence of misconduct may be uncovered.

The office of the special prosecutor will ensure the commission has access to all the information and evidence it needs to do that job and act on the findings as well. The special prosecutor will be independent of government, a critical aspect to public confidence in this body of work. Its functions are to work cooperatively with the royal commission to refer any information to Victoria Police, IBAC, the regulatory and licensing authorities and any other relevant Victorian, interstate, territory and Commonwealth body for investigatory, prosecutorial or regulatory action. This will be supported by a regulated flow of information between the office of the special prosecutor and the royal commission. The bill will commence on the day after it receives royal assent.

Together these reforms will enable the commission to carry out its duties in accordance with its objectives and the terms of reference. In terms of the power to compel production of information, the bill also broadens the Victorian royal commission to allow stronger powers to require people to provide information or written statements outside of hearings. Currently a royal commission can only require someone to hand over documents or give evidence at a hearing. This is an important aspect to the bill that prohibits people from thinking they are above the law or cannot undergo scrutiny simply because information has not been documented. This clause is already present in Commonwealth royal commissions. It helps alleviate any unnecessary costs or delays and helps uncover important information that might otherwise not be explored, because we know that Victorians want to see this dealt with properly, thoroughly and quickly.

We are pulling all of our levers as a government to investigate and strengthen regulatory bodies so that they do have the powers that are needed to hold those who may be involved in corrupt activity to account. Our major construction works have been incredible landmarks of this state government, and they have made inroads into the growth and the connectivity across the state. This has been a really great thing in all of our communities. From roads and houses to our public transport network, it has been transformative for Victoria in that time. But we have to be clear: this kind of dodgy behaviour by some bad actors will not be tolerated on those building sites and in the construction sector, and that must be stamped out. That is why we are going hard on this and giving regulators the money, time and powers that they need. This builds on the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Amendment Bill 2026, which has also been introduced in Parliament this week, giving IBAC the follow-the-money powers to trace public funds and amending the definition of ‘corrupt conduct’ so that IBAC can investigate. Once passed, these laws will come in with immediate effect.

To conclude, I will say that Victorians can be confident that the royal commission does have the scope and does have the resources as well as the powers that it needs to provide answers that Victorians truly deserve. It has been welcomed by integrity experts, stakeholders and some of our most hardened journalists, who are holding power to account. The only people really complaining about this royal commission so far are those opposite, who are saying that the terms of reference are too narrow or that it is not really serious or genuine. But let us take a look at a few of those points in the terms of reference, which permit the commission to look at the conduct of anyone that is engaged in corruption, criminal conduct and serious misconduct. It is any conduct that is corrupt, is criminal or that is undertaken for illegitimate purposes, and it is any other matters the commission considers relevant. The terms are extraordinarily broad in their scope, as they absolutely should be. It seems that the only ones that do not subscribe to that view are those who are seated opposite.

In addition to a budget of $50 million, the government is also giving the commission even more powers and resources to complete that really significant work. A re-elected Carroll government will also legislate to give the special prosecutor further powers to ensure wrongdoers will face those consequences. While we are here actually taking action, trying to restore trust and confidence in our construction industry, there are those opposite who somehow just seem to always keep yelling from the bleachers, always continually opposing. This legislation will clean up our worksites. It will benefit workers, it will improve accountability for all Victorians and it will improve the daily conditions while restoring integrity and pride to an industry. I commend this bill to the house.

 Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (18:49): I also rise this evening to address this bill, the Inquiries Amendment (Special Prosecutor) Bill 2026. I think it is absolutely extraordinary, frankly, to hear some of the contributions on this bill by members of the government. It is almost like in the last few days they have woken up to the fact that there are issues on Victorian government Big Build sites. It is almost like they have woken up and thought, ‘Oh, gee, hold on, it’s important for us to consider integrity when it comes to the spending of Victorian taxpayer money in this state on Big Build projects,’ and it is extraordinary from this perspective.

It should be a fundamental tenet of anyone who has the great privilege to serve in this place to treat Victorian taxpayers money with respect. The issues that Labor’s royal commission will, I hope, expose ‍– ‍should it get off the ground before the caretaker period and should the royal commission have the ability to expose the truth of some of the allegations that have been made, if that is actually allowed to occur – have not just happened in the last little while. Some of these allegations have been known for some time. Some of these allegations have been known for many years. I think that they are extraordinary allegations – allegations which really should have been looked at, considered and mitigated much, much earlier than the current time. That would have been the right thing to do. That would have been the respectful thing to do. But in the instance of the present moment, that has not been the case, and that is a great, great shame.

On this side of the house we have already released a plan, not only for a fair dinkum royal commission, specifying a number of witnesses that should and would appear at a royal commission, but we took the lead on this some time ago. It is a great shame, again, that the Labor government has been somewhat dragged into it kicking and screaming and that it took the demise of one Premier and the elevation of another to read the tea leaves and to understand the sentiment of the Victorian people – that the fact that these allegations of $15 billion of union corruption has been unearthed by the Queensland commission of inquiry is completely and utterly unacceptable. Now, it did take the leadership of the Crisafulli government in Queensland for these allegations to receive the profile that they have received. To the Premier in that state and to his government, a good government in Queensland, I am grateful, and I am sure my colleagues, certainly on this side of the house, are grateful. I am sure the majority of the Victorian people are grateful, because it is only because of that circumstance in which it took a Queensland government to reveal some of the corruption that has taken place on Victorian government building sites for this to be a live discussion now in this state.

I agree wholeheartedly with the proposed amendment moved by the member for Brighton to, as has been the case with the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission Amendment Bill 2026, amend the Inquiries Act 2014, as the house is considering at the minute, in conjunction with clause 4 to remove public interest immunity as a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with a royal commission requirement, including by repealing section 18(2)(c) and making consequential amendments as required. This would ensure that new written information power cannot be resisted on that basis and would implement the substance of recommendation 91 of the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants. Let me unearth that for those watching at home, and I am sure there are a multitude of them: that means that government ministers cannot simply hide behind a cabinet-in-confidence classification for information not to be made available and not to be considered. I think that is absolutely and utterly important.

The fact of the matter is this: the information or the suggestion or the allegation that there has been corruption on Victoria’s Big Build has been there for some time. Set aside that fact for a moment; it has been known, and it has been known by many people. So if it has been known and it has been known by many people, as demonstrated through a recent senate estimates inquiry held federally in Canberra – evidence was given in that forum that there were in fact Victorian bureaucrats who understood that corruption had taken place on these Big Build sites here in Victoria – what has the executive arm of the government done about it?

If there was an opportunity for ministers to correct this circumstance, why didn’t they? If there was a circumstance where ministers were not informed of these things that were known by others in the Victorian bureaucracy and certainly in the federal bureaucracy, then why weren’t ministers informed? I think these are all valid questions that do deserve answers. Now of course we on this side support transparency and we support integrity. We do not think that that is a negotiable when it comes to the administration of public funds in this state, and it should never be a negotiable when it comes to the administration of public funds in this state, and for that reason we will support this bill. But I do commend the amendment proposed by the member for Brighton to the house and to the government especially in this particular circumstance. It is an indication from the opposition that we also intend to propose this amendment in the other place. Fair warning to those members of the other place that this amendment will also likely be coming their way for consideration.

I genuinely think, though, that the circumstance in Victoria is this. There is a saying, and I am sure you are familiar with it, Deputy Speaker: a fish rots from the head. My concern is this: no matter what bandaids this government apply at this point in time and no matter what handkerchief they propose to cover up the sins which are alleged to have been committed by them or by others, it is simply not good enough. I say that because I believe, and I am prepared to assert during the course of this debate, that whatever has happened or not happened, whoever knew or did not know and whatever was done or could have been done or was not done to enable the circumstance where hardworking Victorian taxpayers money has been rorted in this state, fundamentally the circumstance that has enabled that has been a cultural circumstance built up and championed in many ways over the last 12 years of this Labor government. I think there is only one solution to this that will give Victorians an absolute assurance that the sunlight will again be shone on these circumstances, that the truth of the matter will be revealed and that those who have done wrong either by commission or omission will be brought to justice and will be held accountable. The only way to achieve that outcome is with a change of government on 28 November this year.

For this side of politics integrity is a non-negotiable. For my own part as the Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, the alternative Minister for Industrial Relations, I am quite proud of the work that we have done under the leadership of the former Leader of the Opposition, the member for Hawthorn, who initiated this work in the first place. The establishment of Construction Enforcement Victoria is a stated policy of ours – one that we are serious about and one about which we have actually brought forward legislation to this place and sought an opportunity to introduce, which was denied by the government. A change of government is coming and a fresh start is coming, and that is the only way that integrity will be restored in this state.

 Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (18:59): I rise to support the Inquiries Amendment (Special Prosecutor) Bill 2026. It is a fairly simple proposition: if crime, corruption or misconduct has occurred on government-funded construction sites in Victoria, then Victorians deserve to know what happened, how it happened, who was responsible and what needs to change so that it cannot happen again. If wrongdoing is uncovered, then there must be consequences. The Premier’s very first act on taking office was to call a royal commission into crime and misconduct in Victoria’s –

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I am required under sessional orders to interrupt the member. She will have the call when the matter returns to the house.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.