Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (10:25): I move:

That this house, in accordance with standing order 10.01, requires the Leader of the Government to table in the Council, within 14 days of this resolution being agreed to, all documents, including briefs, correspondence, advice and reports, created since 1 January 2022, held by the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, the Minister for Industrial Relations, the Department of Transport and Planning, the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority, WorkSafe Victoria, or the Labour Hire Authority relating to:

(1)   the engagement, subcontracting or payment of Women in Construction Pty Ltd, Rock Solid Civil Contractors Pty Ltd, or any associated entity on Victorian government-funded construction or transport infrastructure projects;

(2)   any probity, due diligence or labour hire licensing checks concerning those entities, their directors, senior managers, or persons exercising control or influence over them;

(3)   any complaints, concerns or investigations concerning those entities, including matters relating to criminal associations, workplace conduct, family violence or outlaw motorcycle gang involvement;

(4)   any briefing or correspondence to or from a minister or ministerial office concerning those entities; and

(5)   any decision, proposed decision, assessment, review or enforcement action by the Labour Hire Authority relating to the labour hire licence of Women in Construction Pty Ltd or any associated entity.

[QUOTES AWAITING VERIFICATION]

I am delighted to move my documents motion, which covers the depth of corruption that is symbolic of this government. Jacinta Allan’s Women in Construction program funnelled taxpayer money to a company owned by a convicted domestic violence offender linked to bikies and organised crime. Just think about this: this company, Women in Construction Pty Ltd, has been allowing a man of very poor character, to put it politely, to profit to the tune of $2.5 million a week from programs designed to – and I quote the Labor press release from 2009 – ‘Encourage more women to consider a career in construction.’ This is a catastrophic failure. Labor spent years boasting about getting more women into construction. Now Victorians are seeing where some of that money went. Let us remind ourselves that at least $15 billion has been skimmed off the top, stolen from Victorian taxpayers and funnelled to their disgraced mates at the CFMEU, to bikies and to criminals. We have seen scandal after scandal unfold. We have seen women subjected to the most horrific abuse on construction sites. We have seen women brutally assaulted by a health and safety officer who had only just been released from prison. There have been reports of drug use, strippers and violence directed at women and Indigenous Victorians, yet the Premier will not actually admit to the public through the media that there has been any corruption happening on Victoria’s construction sites. We are seeing it before our eyes. It is obvious for anyone to see. These incidents have come at a significant cost and have exposed a culture that Victorians rightly expect to be stamped out. Victorians deserve a royal commission to chase down every single cent of the $15 billion rorted from taxpayers on Big Build projects, but of course Jacinta Allan will never call a royal commission, because she has too much to hide. Of course she had to IBAC flip on follow-the-money powers, but not until 2028.

We have seen only this week how this tired Labor government seeks to cover their tracks, and we saw it briefed over the weekend and the last couple of days: CFMEU corruption coming up while doorknocking. I was certainly getting stopped in the street at a listening post the other day up in Meadow Heights about the $15 billion. Everyone knows about the $15 billion. It is very common for punters to come up to you and ask about it. Unlike those on the other side, we have got a clear plan: when we come to government, we will immediately move to introduce follow-the-money powers; we will immediately call a royal commission; we will immediately establish construction enforcement Victoria – a tough cop on the beat on construction sites; and we will immediately reintroduce the successful construction code that was supported under the Napthine government and abolished by Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan as a sop to the CFMEU to allow them to run rampant on Victorian construction sites. That has directly led to $15 billion being rorted from the taxpayer. But this Premier does not care. She will do whatever it takes to cover up for the fact that she was responsible for allowing the CFMEU dominance – the ‘CFMEU monopoly’ as one Labor MP called it – to run rampant over construction sites in Victoria, which has led to the $15 billion being stolen. As my friend the Leader of the Opposition Jess Wilson said:

Jacinta Allan wants the headline today and the investigation after the election.

If these powers are needed, they should start now.

Those opposite have a bit of egg on their face because they all voted against these follow-the-money powers last year. As one Labor MP said in the Australian Financial Review on the condition of anonymity:

This is a deflection of historic proportions … Anything short of a royal commission is not good enough. Jacinta, Daniel [Andrews] and Tim Pallas handed over a monopoly to thugs disguised as unionism, who then used that monopoly cartel power at the expense of taxpayers.

I know there are some Labor MPs that do know how bad this is, and we need to get to the bottom of the Women in Construction scandal. I also note, because I know there were a few questions at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee on the Schindler scandal, that taxpayers were rorted over $7 million for damaged lifts that were never actually damaged by a company. The minister said that it was referred to police, and Victoria Police put out an extraordinary statement saying they did not receive any allegations of criminality. If Jacinta Allan says the standard is that all things should be immediately referred to police, you would think she would accept the same standard from her Minister for Transport Infrastructure, but that has not been the case under this government.

 Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (10:31): I am pleased to rise to speak on Mr Mulholland’s motion with respect to several labour hire and associated entities and the broader question of government infrastructure projects and in particular the way that labour hire licensing checks are conducted, documents relating to complaints and concerns, and decisions or proposed decisions with respect to Women in Construction. The first thing, absolutely, as we have said again and again and again in this place, is that there is zero tolerance and there must be zero tolerance for illegal activity anywhere but particularly in the construction sector. Those who have evidence of illegal activity taking place in the construction sector should make reports to Victoria Police, and that is what the government has done. Victoria Police has a taskforce, Taskforce Hawk, which has been established to investigate wrongdoing in the construction sector. As at the end of March, Taskforce Hawk had charged 22 people with 88 offences. That is Victoria Police doing their job of tackling crime that exists in the construction sector.

What we have also got here, though, is not just Victoria Police doing their job but the labour hire licensing authority doing their job to make sure that we do not have people holding labour hire licences in this state who should not. That is a central tenet of the documents motion moved by Mr Mulholland. I want to spend a little bit of time just reflecting on the gall that it seems is coming out of the opposition, who are calling for documents on an agency that they do not think should exist, because the Liberal Party does not support the licensing of labour hire operators in the state of Victoria. The Liberal Party does not think we should have a labour hire licensing authority in the state of Victoria, and we know that because they voted against its creation. Back in 2018 the Liberal Party in this place spoke against and voted against the need for a labour hire licensing authority here in Victoria. They did not want to have someone looking at conduct and appropriateness and having a system in place to ensure that those people working on construction sites in this state through labour hire arrangements were properly licensed. That is their track record. So you will have to forgive me if it is a little hard to take the indignation from the Liberal Party asking the government to produce documents about an authority that they do not think should exist.

But I think it is a little bit worse than that, because that is not just a position that they had in the dim, dark past. We had, in December last year, the shadow minister Mr Welch get up in this place and attempt to remove provisions in the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 that would allow the authority to publish and disclose actions that it is taking against people that it does not think are fit and proper to hold a licence. He got up here in this chamber less than six months ago to the day and said:

We would like to remove the provision that the Labour Hire Authority can publish details of someone it is considering exercising a power against …

They wanted to remove the provision that allowed the Labour Hire Authority to issue a notice last month saying that it wants to cancel the licence of the very firm that Mr Mulholland is asking questions about and seeking documents about. Six months ago they did not want us to be able to do it, and now they have the gall to stand up in here and ask for documents about it. The hypocrisy is astounding. I think that what the Liberal Party are doing is just playing politics. They do not care about fit and proper persons in the construction industry. They do not want to have a proper system of licensing of labour hire in the state of Victoria. They have been against it since 2018, and they were against it last year.

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (10:36): I am pleased – or not pleased, but it is my duty – to rise and support Mr Mulholland’s motion under standing order 10.01 requiring:

… the Leader of the Government to table in the Council, within 14 days of this resolution being agreed to, all documents, including briefs, correspondence, advice and reports, created since 1 January 2022, held by the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, the Minister for Industrial Relations, the Department of Transport and Planning, the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority, WorkSafe Victoria, or the Labour Hire Authority relating to:

(1)   the engagement, subcontracting or payment of Women in Construction Pty Ltd, Rock Solid Civil Contractors Pty Ltd, or any associated entity on Victorian government-funded construction or transport infrastructure projects;

(2)   any probity, due diligence or labour hire licensing …

(3)   any complaints, concerns or investigations …

(4)   any briefing or correspondence to or from a minister or ministerial office concerning those entities; and

(5)   any decision, proposed decision, assessment, review or enforcement …

on these matters. This government is rotten to the core. It is a corrupt government that has over 14 years now allowed the systemic rorting of taxpayers money, the siphoning off of billions of dollars – at least $15 billion, maybe $30 billion – to corrupt payments to unions, to bikie groups, to strippers, to the full works of corrupt payment through these building sites. The Big Build has been delivering projects across the state, but the projects are inevitably over budget massively, and in some cases it is not simply the incompetence of the government, it is the frank and outright corruption that is involved. This is a corrupt government. It is a government that is out of control and a government that needs to be reined in. This documents motion is in the public interest because the community should be able to see these documents. Many documents –

Members interjecting.

David DAVIS: Well, let me just say the corrupt members on the other side have allowed this to occur year by year by year. The Labor Party members have been happy to allow this to happen.

Ryan Batchelor: On a point of order, Acting President, Mr Davis just accused members on this side of being corrupt, and I think that is unparliamentary.

David DAVIS: On the point of order, Acting President, I am entitled to use that matter and description about an entity like a political party.

Ryan Batchelor: Further to the point of order, Acting President, Mr Davis did not say ‘members of the Labor Party’, he said ‘the corrupt members opposite’.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): I uphold the point of order. Mr Davis, you know more than most the language that you can and cannot use in this chamber.

David DAVIS: I withdraw my statement that the corrupt members opposite –

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): Please withdraw without qualification.

David DAVIS: I withdraw without qualification, Acting President. I want to be clear, though: the Labor Party, who do sit opposite in this chamber, are a corrupt party. They are crooked to the core. Many of them should be in jail, there is no question about that.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): Mr Davis, please withdraw that last comment.

David DAVIS: Many of them ought to be in jail. That is the truth. And not necessarily all in this chamber; there may be some in the other chamber too.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): Mr Davis, this is not a new substantive motion. This is the motion which Mr Mulholland has raised. I ask you to withdraw that last comment before continuing to speak on this motion.

David DAVIS: I withdraw. On this motion, this is a documents motion, and it is in the public interest that these documents see the light of day. Part of the corrupt behaviour of the Labor Party has been to block FOIs, block documents motions and block the release of damaging documents that actually shed a light on what is occurring with this government. What we have seen with this government and the Labor Party over these 14 years is a developing habit of corruption and a developing habit of behaviour where they look the other way or they actually actively support these matters. The members in this chamber have got a responsibility to stand up and to fight against some of the ministers who are clearly actively involved in this failure to tackle the corruption – the ministers who have looked the other way. Jacinta Allan is obviously the Premier and was the Minister for Transport Infrastructure for a long period and the Minister for Public Transport before that, and many of these projects have occurred on her watch. She knew about this corruption and allowed it to happen or ought to have known. She ought to have known, and much was brought to her attention. We have a series of FOIs that actually sit with these matters, some of which would even overlap with this important motion today to try and get to the bottom of the corruption within the Labor Party. This is something that is costing taxpayers dearly – the money that has been squandered through these deliberate, corrupt payments by the Labor Party, corrupt payments that have accessed taxpayers money, taxpayers money that could have been used to more adequately fund hospitals and schools and roads. You can see our roads are in a terrible situation, and that is in part because the money has been siphoned off for corrupt payments.

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (10:42): Listening to Mr Davis is just an example of the Liberal Party. You heard him rant on for 5 minutes, and not once did he mention, as is general for his contributions, working people in Victoria and the quality of life of people in Victoria. It is just absolute tripe. He has probably been using the same words for his whole political career; it does not matter what the issue of the day is. He is not sitting down and establishing policies that improve people’s lives. I am proud to be part of a party that does go about that work. The fact that the Labor Party puts front and centre improving diversity in workplaces, including in construction workplaces, is something that I am incredibly proud of, because we get better outcomes when we have diverse workplaces. We have got a motion coming up on this a little bit later today. I might give the Liberals a bit of a reminder of the lack of diversity in their workplaces, particularly with their federal colleagues, and what a disaster that has been for them.

As my colleague Mr Batchelor said, this government has zero tolerance for illegal behaviour, through Taskforce Hawk and the charges for offences and through the Labour Hire Authority cancelling 153 licences. Yet again Mr Batchelor raised the fact that the Liberals did not support the Labour Hire Authority because they do not support the improved pay and conditions of Victorians workplaces. You do not care about worker safety. You do not care about seeing that families have more pay in their pocket at the end of the day and are able to spend that money with their family and in their communities; it is not in your DNA. It is not in your DNA to work up policies that improve the quality of life of Victorians, and you do not put the time into that. You do not put in the time, and that is why you come to election after election without policies that improve the lives of Victorians. I am proud to be part of a party that does that to ensure that whether it is women getting into apprenticeships – I am going to run out of time, so I will save it for the for the motion coming up later.

Motion agreed to.