Victoria's Big Build inquiry reveals early warnings of bikies, criminals on state projects

Victoria's royal commission into the state's $150 billion infrastructure pipeline opened its public hearings this week with a stark revelation: the premier knew about allegations of criminals and outlaw motorcycle gang members infiltrating major construction sites more than a year before those concerns became public. The inquiry, formally titled the royal commission into the integrity of major public and civil infrastructure construction projects in Victoria, has been tasked with investigating corruption, criminal conduct, and serious misconduct across projects including the $26.1 billion North East Link, the $13.5 billion Metro Tunnel, the $10.2 billion West Gate Tunnel, and $15 billion in level crossing removals.

Jacinta Allan, who was transport infrastructure minister in June 2023, received two confidential briefings from public servants at the major transport infrastructure authority and the transport department. Both were dated June 21, 2023. The first, which Allan did not sign, warned that the industrial relations environment on MTIA projects had become "highly challenging," with contractors being pressured by the construction union to accept additional staff and use of certain people and companies to avoid industrial disputes. The briefing explicitly flagged the potential presence of "outlaw motorcycle club members and convicted criminals" on work sites. The second briefing, which Allan signed on June 22, went further, documenting that Toby Mitchell, a former member of the Mongols motorcycle club, had been present on a construction site alongside known members of the Bandidos and "known ex-criminals," some wearing ankle bracelets. It also noted that someone had been shot with a bolt gun in a work context, though the injury did not break the skin.

Allan referred these allegations to then-Victorian police commissioner Shane Patton on June 23, 2023, writing that she felt "dutybound" to raise the matter directly given the potential seriousness of possible criminal activity on government-contracted worksites. The existence of the first briefing became public only the day before Allan lost the Labor leadership to Ben Carroll, and she denied having read it at that time. The documents now tendered to the royal commission show she was aware of corruption allegations on government sites roughly a year before a Nine newspapers investigation brought the matter to wider attention.

The inquiry's counsel assisting, Chris Young KC, stated that Allan would have "every opportunity to respond" during the course of the investigation. Commissioner Christopher Kourakis made clear the scope of the commission's work, saying it would leave "no stone unturned in search for whatever is hidden, or whomever lurks underneath it" and would pursue "everyone" suspected of being complicit in abuse of power, referring for prosecution whoever the evidence implicates. He put unions, construction consortiums, subcontractors, and the government on notice that there should be "no place" for those whose "moral compass malfunctions."

The financial dimension of the alleged corruption remains contested but potentially enormous. Christopher Carr SC, also counsel assisting, noted that a figure of $15 billion in losses has become "notorious," though it amounts to little more than rough estimates. However, he pointed to a 2026 report that Allan signed off on, which included an $837 million payment to settle a construction consortium claim. That settlement included $200 million for excess labour that "had not truly been required" but was paid because of insufficient government pushback against union demands for additional workers. Carr suggested this single case indicates that the true costs of corruption "might indeed be measured in multiple billions of dollars."

The commission has already conducted several closed hearings to gather sensitive information that, if disclosed early, would have compromised ongoing investigations. Kourakis vowed to hold as many hearings in public as possible. Two blocks of public hearings are planned before the end of the year, with the first concluding in mid-November—during Victoria's state election campaign. Young stated plainly that "the commission's work will not stop for the election and it will not be shaped by it," signaling that the inquiry's timeline and public proceedings will proceed regardless of electoral considerations.