Tuesday, 17 February 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (13:43): My question is to the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop. Complainants to the Fair Work Commission have said that at the SRL stabling yards, one CFMEU-linked individual received ghost wages. When concerns were raised, the employee reported severe bullying, intimidation, threats of violence and interference with employment. Have you been briefed on allegations of bribes, intimidation and threats of violence on SRL sites?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (13:44): Thank you, Mr Mulholland, for the opportunity to talk about improving accountability, transparency and safety on the Suburban Rail Loop. I just want to be very, very clear about the work that we are doing to make sure that where there are any allegations, concerns or complaints of criminal or unlawful behaviour, unsafe behaviour or bullying, those complaints are able to be escalated and are able to be investigated and, where necessary, prosecuted to the full force of the law.

Be under no doubt, Mr Mulholland, I have absolutely no time for any matters on worksites that expose workers to unsafe terms and conditions. Now, Mr Mulholland, if you had your way, there would not be any safe systems of work on worksites.

Members interjecting.

Sonja Terpstra: On a point of order, President, I am sitting almost directly behind the minister, and I am struggling to hear her answer with the sheer volume of noise that is coming from the other side of the chamber. I ask that the minister be allowed to continue her answer in silence, and if you deem it appropriate, maybe she should have the clock reset, I do not know.

The PRESIDENT: I uphold the point of order and ask the chamber to come to order.

Harriet SHING: Mr Mulholland, I will never walk away from the importance of making sure that workers have safe workplaces, and if there are any allegations, concerns or complaints of criminal, unlawful or improper behaviour –

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, on relevance, President, the question was about if the minister had been briefed. That was the question.

The PRESIDENT: I call the minister back to the question.

Harriet SHING: Well, if you are actually interested in listening to the answer, I would be very happy to continue to provide you with information, because, Mr Mulholland, as I have made clear and as we have made clear in this government, we have absolutely no tolerance for any behaviour that threatens, endangers or intimidates or engages with criminal behaviour around the safety of workers in their workplaces in an industry, in a sector, which is inherently dangerous. Mr Mulholland, I receive regular briefings and information about the pathways available to anybody who does have a complaint or a concern. I have made it very, very clear that I want to see any issue, allegation, concern or complaint escalated to the appropriate pathway, whether that is the construction complaints referral process, whether that is WorkSafe, whether that is the VIDA Stopline or whether that is the AFP or Victoria Police.

Mr Mulholland, you referred in your opening remarks, which you made, to the Fair Work Commission, and again the Fair Work Commission, through the Fair Work Ombudsman, has a process there too. Let us be very, very clear, Mr Mulholland: there is a big distinction between what you would seek to conflate on the one hand, being criminal behaviour – appalling and disgraceful. The one thing that we agree on across this Parliament, the one thing perhaps that we can all agree on, as flagged by everyone from Mr Watson right through to Mr Furlong, Mr Mulholland, is that we have zero tolerance for criminal behaviour and unsafe behaviour. But having said that, to try to say that workers achieving a fair wage and safe conditions is a matter that constitutes what you say is unlawful or improper, is an absolute disgrace and says that if you had your way every Victorian construction worker would get a bill under a Liberal government for the wages that they have earned fairly and lawfully.

Georgie Crozier interjected.

Harriet Shing: On a point of order, President, yet again she said it.

The PRESIDENT: I did not hear it. Well, maybe I will just warn the chamber that if people want to make accusations, they need to do that through a substantive motion. Who are you directing –

Harriet Shing: Ms Crozier, yet again has made another assertion. You point at me, Ms Crozier, and say it. You have said it time and time again. I would ask that you unconditionally withdraw.

Renee Heath: Further to the point of order, President, I think that Minister Shing also made some unsubstantiated claims about Mr Mulholland, so she should withdraw before she calls any points of order on anyone else.

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: Let me commit to the chamber that I will try and listen out in the wall of noise for if anyone says something unparliamentary, which I am guessing Minister Shing believes someone did, and I will be calling on people to withdraw for the remainder of this week.

Harriet Shing: On the point of order, President, I heard it.

The PRESIDENT: Ms Crozier, are you happy to withdraw? I did not hear it.

Georgie Crozier: For you, President, I withdraw.

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (13:49): Minister, another complainant to the Fair Work Commission has stated that it had been subject to illegal CFMEU boycotts on Big Build projects, including the SRL, after refusing demands for bribes. Will you guarantee that these activities have ceased on SRL sites?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (13:50): Thank you, Mr Mulholland. Again, the sorts of complaints and allegations that have been made – and we have all seen them as they have been reported – are appalling. And again, I would hope that that is something we can all agree on. Mr Mulholland, what I would also say is that material provided to the Fair Work Commission is also within the remit of the Fair Work Commission to investigate, and indeed the setting of terms, conditions and wages as part of lawfully made collective agreements is something which requires the Fair Work Commission to be positively satisfied has been made genuinely and without coercion. That is set out very clearly in the Fair Work Act, Mr Mulholland. But as I have said, we need to make sure that the appropriate pathways are available –

The PRESIDENT: I think the minister was just answering your question. Is that your point of order, Mr Mulholland?

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, President, on relevance, I asked if these activities have ceased on SRL sites and whether the minister can make a guarantee. If she cannot, she can say no; if she can, she can say yes.

The PRESIDENT: That is not really a point of order.

Harriet SHING: What I would say to you, Mr Mulholland, and indeed to anybody else who has concerns, allegations or complaints about criminal, unlawful or unsafe behaviour on the Suburban Rail Loop sites, on any other site, in any boardroom, on any factory floor, in any workplace, is that they escalate and raise these concerns immediately.