Victoria Labor accused of inflating rail costs and threats over airport link
A submission to a Victorian construction inquiry alleges the government inflated costs and threatened a public servant to back a preferred rail route.
At a glance
- A submission to Victoria's construction royal commission alleges project costs were inflated to favour a Sunshine route over Maribyrnong for the airport rail link.
- The whistleblower claims a former minister threatened them with losing their job to secure the preferred political outcome.
- The Victorian opposition demanded answers from Premier Ben Carroll, while the government stated it would let the royal commission complete its work.
Victoria's construction royal commission has received allegations that the state government artificially inflated the price of an alternate transport route and threatened a senior public servant to secure its preferred option for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.
The claims, made in an anonymous submission by a former planning expert, suggest billions of dollars were added to a Maribyrnong route to make a Sunshine alignment appear more favourable.
Details of the inquiry submission
The whistleblower alleged that between 3.8 billion and 4.6 billion dollars of unnecessary tunnelling costs were loaded onto the Maribyrnong proposal. The former expert stated that when they raised concerns about the practice, they faced threats of dismissal from the then minister for public transport and major projects, Jacinta Allan, unless they endorsed the Sunshine route.
The source reportedly kept quiet due to career concerns and eventually resigned from the department.
Government and opposition responses
The state government declined to address the specifics, stating it would allow the royal commission to conduct its investigation without pre-empting the outcome. A spokesperson for Ms Allan denied the claims and stated she would cooperate fully with the inquiry, while senior minister Jaclyn Symes questioned the credibility of claims lacking named sources.
Shadow Minister for Transport Infrastructure Evan Mulholland accused the administration of intimidation and called on Premier Ben Carroll to clarify what he knew about the events while serving in cabinet. Mr Mulholland added that the opposition would continue with the Sunshine route if elected since construction contracts are already active.
Expert perspective on integrity
William Partlett, a researcher at the Centre for Public Integrity, described the claims as indicative of oversight issues within executive decision-making and pointed to past weaknesses in the state anti-corruption commission. While the government recently passed laws to expand anti-corruption powers, these revelations highlight the pressures faced by public servants reporting internal directives and could prompt further disclosures during the inquiry.
What to watch: Further hearings and findings from Victoria's construction royal commission.
Reporting from: ABC News. Spotted an error? Tell us.
- Victoria
- Melbourne Airport Rail Link
- Royal Commission
- Evan Mulholland
- Jacinta Allan
- Ben Carroll
- Australia
- Politics