Victoria launches broad royal commission into construction corruption, no limits on inquiry

Victoria's new premier Ben Carroll stood before reporters on Thursday morning and made a declaration that would reshape how the state examines one of its most consequential failures: nothing would be off limits. Hours earlier, the governor had signed the letters patent formally establishing a royal commission into construction sector corruption—an inquiry Carroll said would pursue allegations of grift, thuggery, misogyny, and violence that had festered on taxpayer-funded building sites.

Chris Kourakis, the former chief justice of South Australia, would lead the investigation. Carroll described him as independent, rigorous, and fearless—qualities that would matter enormously given what lay ahead. Kourakis had been granted coercive powers to compel documents, including cabinet papers, and to summon witnesses. He had a $50 million budget and until August 20, 2027, to complete his work. The formal name was deliberately comprehensive: the Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects in Victoria.

The inquiry's scope was sweeping. It would examine whether the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, construction companies, subcontractors, labour hire firms, and others had engaged in corruption, criminal conduct, or serious misconduct on major Victorian projects. It would also scrutinize whether government departments and project delivery agencies had properly overseen these works. Crucially, the commission could investigate whether misappropriated taxpayer funds might be recouped. Carroll made clear that decisions about who would be called to testify—ministers, former ministers, senior officials, union leaders, company executives—would rest entirely with the commissioner, not with him or his government.

When pressed, Carroll confirmed that former premiers could be summoned. He also confirmed that legal representation for former ministers and premiers would be publicly funded, a decision he characterized as standard procedure. The shadow attorney general, James Newbury, immediately seized on this, demanding Carroll guarantee that both his predecessor Jacinta Allan and former premier Daniel Andrews would be called before the November election. Newbury also attacked the timing, calling the commission a political fix announced just weeks before voters went to the polls.

Carroll rejected the charge. "This is about the future of our state and valuing taxpayer dollars," he said. The inquiry had been his first act as premier three weeks earlier, announced almost immediately after he assumed office following Allan's sudden resignation. That resignation itself had been precipitated by internal party pressure—several Labor MPs had joined a cross-factional group urging Carroll to challenge Allan for the leadership after she had resisted calls for a royal commission, putting her at odds with her own caucus.

Michael Crosby, the administrator now overseeing the CFMEU, said the union would fully cooperate. But he pushed back against any suggestion that misconduct was confined to the union alone. He urged the commission to examine developers, head contractors, subcontractors, labour hire operators, and anyone else who had profited from unlawful or unethical behaviour. For years, Crosby noted, the CFMEU had been calling out wage theft, sham contracting, phoenixing schemes, safety breaches, and the exploitation of vulnerable workers—practices that robbed workers of their pay, endangered lives, and undercut honest businesses.

Carroll announced that a special prosecutor would be appointed to work alongside the royal commission, and that the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission would be given enhanced follow-the-money powers. Both initiatives required legislation, which the government committed to introducing before entering caretaker mode ahead of the election. Parliament would sit for additional days to accommodate the process.

Kourakis, in a brief statement, acknowledged the weight of his responsibility. "We will follow the evidence and ensure our processes are fair, thorough, and transparent," he said. The inquiry would begin its work in a state still reckoning with the scale of what had occurred on its building sites—a reckoning that would now unfold in public, with no predetermined boundaries on where the investigation might lead.