Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Construction industry

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:14): (1048) My question is to the minister for housing. Noting the story on the front page of the Age today detailing corrupt kickbacks on Big Build sites, I ask: can the minister assure the house that pay-for-play arrangements involving gangland figures receiving kickbacks for access to the government’s social procurement programs have not occurred on big build housing projects for which she is responsible?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:15): Righto. Mr Davis, you have used some sporting terminology there that I am not familiar with, but I am going to take the heart of your question on face value. There is zero tolerance for unfair, unlawful or otherwise inappropriate industrial relations practices on any government worksite in the state. There is zero tolerance for any unsafe workplace or industrial relations practices on any government worksite in this state. I would urge anybody – including you, Mr Davis, and I note that you had a matter come to you that you did absolutely nothing about in referring that to the federal ombudsman or to an appropriate body for the purpose of investigation and/or prosecution – on the opposition benches, anybody in this chamber, anybody in the other place, anybody in the community who becomes –

David DAVIS: On a point of order, President, this is question time for the minister. It is not for her to detail what everyone else around the land and in the chamber should do. It is a question to the minister about whether she can provide that assurance about her portfolio.

The PRESIDENT: I think the minister was being relevant to the question.

Harriet SHING: Mr Davis, again, I am in the middle of talking about the importance of making sure that people are in a position to report and to disclose and to provide information that might be relevant to any allegations of unfair, inappropriate, unlawful or criminal or indeed unsafe practices or industrial relations practices on worksites that the government has any interface with. Mr Davis, if you were serious about being part of the solution, you too would be sharing that message about the work and the processes that we have available as they relate not only to the Wilson review and not only to the work that is happening within the broader remit of federal industrial relations reform. You understand, Mr Davis – or at least I would hope you would after the many, many years that you have spent in this place, including during the time that we referred the large bulk of our industrial relations powers to the Commonwealth – that in fact it is the Commonwealth government that is also taking action to stamp out a rotten culture in the building and construction industry and that the Prime Minister has been crystal clear, the Premier has been crystal clear and the investigators and people heading inquiries have been crystal clear that there is absolutely no tolerance for any behaviour of this nature.

I have no tolerance for any of this, and I would hope that it is beyond any doubt that this will not be tolerated or acceptable. It is very clear in the projects and in the contracts and in the work that head contracts have responsibility for that in fact action is taken –

David Davis interjected.

Harriet SHING: Mr Davis, I am going to take you up on that interjection. You just said words to the effect of ‘your housing projects are riddled’ –

David Davis interjected.

Harriet SHING: All right, Mr Davis, you just then talked about social procurement practices being riddled with inappropriate practices. If you have got specific allegations, then rather than just inviting cavalier interjections from around the chamber, if you were actually serious about doing anything on this, you would in fact be reporting these for investigation. What a disgrace you are, Mr Davis, in withholding any information that you might have relevant to these matters.

David Davis: On a point of order, President, the minister has not answered the question directly. She has ignored the question and she has gone around the block five times pointing to everyone else but not answered the simple question.

The PRESIDENT: I believe the minister was being relevant. Sometimes it was really hard to hear her because of the interjections.

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:19): What is clear from the minister’s answer is she will not provide that assurance to the chamber about the government’s social procurement programs on the big build housing projects for which she is responsible. I therefore ask: has the minister been briefed on allegations concerning corruption in the social procurement programs in the big build housing programs, and if so, when?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:20): Thanks, Mr Davis, for that supplementary. One thing that you are very, very good at is confusing just about everybody who listens to the way in which you frame questions because of the preamble that you invite and take on with every opportunity available to you. I could not be any clearer: there is zero tolerance for this. It is part of my work, and it is my expectation that there is a very, very strict set of obligations and commitments to ensure that contractual obligations are met, to ensure that –

Members interjecting.

David Davis: On a point of order, President, it was a very specific question about whether the minister has been briefed. Now, she might have been, she might not have been. She can say yes, she can say no, or she can say, ‘I can’t recall,’ but the fact is the question was: has the minister been briefed on these corruption matters inside the social programs that relate to the big build on housing?

Members interjecting.

Harriet SHING: Mr Davis, again, I think you are confusing the work that is occurring across the Big Housing Build and the delivery of at least 13,300 social housing homes with a range of other whole-of-government programs. My expectation is that all standards and commitments and responsibilities are met. This is part of my job and part of the work that I do every day.

David Davis: I move that the minister’s failure to answer whether she is briefed is taken into account on the next day of meeting.

The PRESIDENT: I cannot put that question. Would you like to rephrase it?

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:22): I move:

That minister’s answer be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to.