Victorian premier resigns after briefing links Big Build corruption to billions in extra costs
Premier Jacinta Allan resigned on Tuesday after revelations that senior public servants had briefed her in June 2023 on corruption and bikie infilt...
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan resigned on Tuesday after revelations that senior public servants had briefed her in June 2023 on corruption and bikie infiltration in the state’s huge infrastructure program, raising fresh questions about what she knew and when. The briefing, first reported by Nine media, said the problem had a bearing on project costs, productivity and culture.
Allan stepped down just before a caucus vote that was expected to challenge her leadership. Her departure came as scrutiny deepened over the state’s so-called Big Build program, a $109 billion infrastructure push that has been dogged by allegations of criminal influence and cost blowouts.
A brief buried in plain sight
The key detail is the June 2023 briefing itself. At the time, Allan was transport minister. According to reporting cited in the source material, senior public servants told her then that criminal and bikie infiltration had reached the program and that it affected costs, delivery and workplace culture.
That undercut Allan’s public line that there had been no cost blowout linked to the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, and that rising expenses were simply the result of inflation. She has said she never saw the brief. The political damage, though, was already done. Deep damage.
The allegations around the Big Build have been estimated to have cost Victorian taxpayers about $15 billion. Other claims have also surfaced, including that Allan approved an $837 million payment based on CFMEU demands. Those claims remain part of the wider cloud hanging over the project.
Why the briefing matters beyond Victoria
For observers outside Australia, the case has a familiar shape: a vast public works program, blurred lines between government and contractor influence, and mounting pressure on a leader over what was known inside cabinet rooms. Similar questions have dogged major infrastructure drives in Europe, North America and parts of Asia when oversight weakens and costs climb.
But Victoria’s case is especially sensitive because the Big Build sits at the center of the state’s economic and political agenda. The program covers transport and other infrastructure and has been sold as a long-term public investment. When questions over procurement, labor influence and corruption start to spread, they can quickly turn into a broader test of government integrity.
Allan’s resignation also leaves open a basic question that will shape the next phase of the scandal: who in government saw the briefing, who acted on it, and what was done after June 2023. Those answers, if they come, are likely to matter more than the leadership vote she avoided on Tuesday.
