Thursday, 11 September 2025

Crime and corruption

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:32): (1967) My adjournment is to the Premier, and the action I seek is for the Premier to immediately establish a royal commission into the infiltration of organised crime and corruption within Victoria’s infrastructure sector, including a focus on organised retail crime, and to monitor and address serious concerns about illegal and unregulated activity in our marine environment, and with this in mind, to commit to expanding the powers and resourcing of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission. The revelations published today in the Australian Financial Review are damning. Whistleblower testimony and leaked documents expose what appears to be endemic corruption in the Victorian government’s flagship $100 billion Big Build program. The former IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich KC described the scale of misconduct as very alarming and warned that it is beyond the capacity of current oversight bodies to address. We are talking about extortion, blackmail and kickbacks said to be linked to CFMEU operatives and criminal syndicates, public money allegedly used for private home renovations of project managers, Indigenous and small subcontractors being excluded or pressured for bribes, and a culture of silence where complaints to IBAC, departments and even ministers are simply ignored.

When the opposition moved to establish a select committee this year, the Labor government blocked it. They have refused to act and the public is paying the price. But these problems are not confined to construction: retail crime is out of control. According to the Australian Retailers Association violent retail crime is up 52 per cent in Victoria. Store theft offences exceeded 38,000 in 2024 and a staggering one in four retail incidents involve violence or intimidation. This is not random. It is organised crime operating in full view, emboldened by inaction and weak enforcement, and now we are seeing signs of the same regulatory failure in another critical area, our waterways. In Port Phillip Bay there is an increased concern from recreational fishers, local communities and environmental stakeholders about illegal fishing activity, overharvesting and black market distribution. Yet what do we see? Fewer fisheries officers, inconsistent patrols and very little enforcement presence during peak periods of risk. Once again an area vulnerable to organised and illicit activity is left without adequate oversight. This opens the door to exploitation of our marine resources, damage to ecosystems and further expansion of underground markets, often tied to other criminal operations.

We need decisive action: a royal commission with full powers of inquiry, expanded IBAC jurisdiction and resourcing and proper enforcement in Port Phillip Bay to protect our environment and our marine resources. Victorians deserve to feel safe in their jobs, in their communities – (Time expired)

Michael Galea: On a point of order, President, apologies but from my account that was at least four action items. I could not quite tell if Mrs Hermans was asking for a royal commission, for expanded IBAC powers for an intervention in fisheries for retail crime. There was a wide array of things, and I do not believe that is an appropriate use of the adjournment debate. The adjournment debate is to raise a single action item, and I have no idea what single action Mrs Hermans is seeking.

The PRESIDENT: Mrs Hermans, you do not have to read it all again, but could you repeat the action item and who you would like it directed to?

Ann-Marie HERMANS: The action item is to the Premier to establish a royal commission into the infiltration of organised crime and corruption within Victoria in both the infrastructure sector, looking also at retail crime and with the serious concerns about the marine environment.

Michael Galea: So just into everything?

The PRESIDENT: Yes, maybe just put it into everything.