Jacinta Allan’s Office Warned Rail Firms, Inquiry Hears
A Victorian royal commission heard on November 13, 2026, that contractors on a union-disrupted rail project were told the minister's office felt they would get no more state work unless the dispute ended. A construction executive also said workers feared the CFMEU.
A royal commission in Victoria, Australia, heard on Friday, November 13, 2026, that Jacinta Allan’s office warned contractors on a troubled rail project they would not “have any more work” in the state unless an industrial dispute was resolved. The evidence came from a former state infrastructure official.
It was the first time the inquiry had heard from an official of the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (Vida).
Warning passed down the chain
Peter Wilkinson is a former Vida official and now executive general manager of the Suburban Rail Loop authority. He told the royal commission he spoke with his manager at Vida, Evan Tattersall, at the height of the dispute at Gap Road.
Tattersall told him on either 6 or 7 June 2022 that he had discussed the issue with the minister’s office, Wilkinson said. Wilkinson assumed that meant the office of Allan, then minister for transport infrastructure.
According to Wilkinson, Tattersall said “that if they can’t handle the industrial [relations] in Victoria, they can’t have any more work”. Tattersall was referring to the site contractors, John Holland and CPB Constructions.
Wilkinson said he knew the contractors were tendering for the airport rail project, another major state-funded job. He did not know whether the minister’s office was aware of that.
Tattersall did not tell him what to do with the information. Wilkinson passed it to Joe Aygur, general manager of the Rail Network Alliance, who told the commission about the warning on Tuesday.
Counsel assisting the commission, Chris Young KC, asked why no record of the conversation existed. Wilkinson said one reason was that it was “moving very quickly”, so there was no need to record it formally.
He was also asked about a meeting scheduled in Allan’s parliament house office for 5pm on 7 June 2022, the day work restarted at Gap Road. He was listed as an optional attendee on the invite but said he could not recall whether he went.
Workers ‘fearful’ of union
Stephen Villella, delivery director at the site, also gave evidence. He described the meeting at union headquarters that ultimately ended the dispute.
It had been “extremely galling” for construction company officials to “bend the knee” by meeting the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU), he said.
Villella said none of the safety concerns raised by the union were serious enough to force work to stop. Workers were fearful of the CFMEU and, once they started attending, would stay in the lunchroom for long periods.
“They didn’t want to come [to work] at all,” Villella said. “They were fearful of what would happen to them organisationally and individually if they did.”
The commission is examining the integrity of major public and civil infrastructure construction projects in Victoria. Its November public hearings, which run until November 20, are focusing on a 2022 level crossing removal project at Gap Road in Sunbury.
The commission previously heard that CFMEU officials shut the site over purported safety concerns. They allowed work to continue after two of their own health and safety representatives were appointed and the project changed its traffic and labour hire companies to CFMEU-aligned firms.
On Thursday, Young strongly criticized Vida for failing to disclose relevant evidence to the investigation in a timely manner.
