Royal commission to begin hearings on Sunbury level crossing removal amid Big Build corruption claims

The Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects in Victoria will open its first public hearings with a two-week block starting Monday, focusing on the Gap Road level crossing removal in Sunbury. The inquiry is expected to hear from about two dozen witnesses, including construction-industry representatives, officials from government departments that delivered the multibillion-dollar Big Build, and members of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.

The project, covered by an Australian Workers Union enterprise agreement until June 2022, saw a work stoppage on June 6-7. A consortium that included builders CPB and John Holland then transferred control to the CFMEU, which insisted that its preferred labour-hire firm, BK Labour, take over the contract.

"What the arrangements cost, who paid for them and what the state knew and did," the commission said in a statement, adding that it will examine the June stop-work, a meeting at the CFMEU’s offices on June 7 after which work resumed, and subsequent arrangements.

State officials are alleged to have pressured the consortium to reach a deal with the CFMEU, relaying a message from then transport minister Jacinta Allan. Allan, who served as Victorian premier from September 2023 until her resignation in July, has denied the allegations.

The commission will also probe the appointment of health and safety representatives, changes to labour-hire and traffic-management providers, and any broader campaigns on traffic control across other Big Build projects. Representatives of CPB and John Holland warned that switching coverage from the AWU to the CFMEU and its favoured labour-hire company could add an extra $2 million to labour-hire costs.

BK Labour owner Bernard Kearney pleaded guilty in July to creating a false document to disguise the reason his business made several suspicious financial transactions and was fined $3,000 without a conviction.

Premier Ben Carroll, who succeeded Allan, announced the royal commission as his first act in office. The commission, led by Commissioner Christopher Kourakis, was established after years of reporting on alleged corruption in the Victorian branch of the CFMEU under secretary John Setka, who resigned in 2024. The Big Build, a signature legacy of the Labor government’s 12-year tenure, includes more than 70 level-crossing removals, the Metro rail tunnel, the West Gate Tunnel and the North East Link toll roads, costing over $100 billion.