Former adviser to Daniel Andrews called before Victorian infrastructure royal commission after bureaucratic document failures
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A former senior aide to ex-premier Daniel Andrews has been forced to front the inquiry after the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority’s sluggish, redacted and incomplete document handling once again exposed the dysfunction and evasiveness festering inside the public sector.
The Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (Vida) has been heavily criticised for failing to provide timely and complete documents to the royal commission investigating the integrity of major public-infrastructure projects. Counsel assisting the commission, Chris Young KC, said Vida repeatedly asked for extensions and eventually handed over a document two days late that contained improperly redacted handwritten notes relating to the Gap Road level-crossing removal in Sunbury.
Young also said Vida disclosed, for the first time, a series of text messages involving the Premier’s Private Office, former Andrews adviser Matthew Toner and former Vida chief of staff Matthew Phelan. The commissioner, Christopher Kourakis, confirmed that Toner and Phelan have been issued compulsory notices to appear before the commission.
Young warned that refusing to comply could result in imprisonment, highlighting the commission’s statutory powers under the Inquiries Act. He criticised state agencies for only cooperating when compelled, despite Premier Ben Carroll’s public support for the commission’s work.
Vida’s legal representative, Richard Knowles KC, said the agency would respond promptly to any further document requests and said it remained committed to assisting the commission, apologising for any shortcomings.
The hearing also included evidence from John Holland representatives, who said the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission in 2022 left the construction sector with limited tools to deal with breaches of the Fair Work Act, and that dealing with the CFMEU in Victoria is seen as more difficult than in other states.
The commission’s inquiry continues.