Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Government performance

Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (17:31): It is the people of Victoria that I am here to grieve for today, because they are the losers. In addressing what the member for Geelong said, everything I say is based on complete fact, not fabrications, because there are so many failures by the Labor government in Victoria and in fact it is Victorians who are the losers.

Even today I cannot believe how much attention they have put on the Leader of the Opposition rather than on governing, because I tell you what, there is an awful lot they need to do in governing. There is violence on worksites, there is violence against women on worksites, there are rorts and ghost shifts and we have got debt heading to almost $200 billion. Compare that to a decade ago, when we had a debt of only about $23 billion. That is one of the most criminal and extraordinary turnarounds that I have ever seen. Once we get a downgrading, if the ratings agencies downgrade us that little bit further, because it is one downgrade after another, the cost of our interest bill is just going to be crippling.

Already we see people living in the regions being short-changed big time by a government with a few favoured projects in the city. Whilst they might be favoured, they are not managing them very well at all, because the overruns are up to about $50 billion. Imagine what you could do with $50 billion. Imagine the new hospitals that could not just be built but be resourced. Imagine the roads that could be fixed. I have driven through many, many places, metro and country, and I know how badly those roads need to be fixed. But, do you know, it is really not about what the government says, it is about what the government does, and they are at odds more often than not.

I want to start to talk about the issues on the Big Build, and not just the Big Build projects but also other government projects that have got into a little bit of strife. It is not just the cost overruns. I mean, it goes without saying that any building project that the government embarks on overruns by I think about 30 per cent. The Auditor-General has said you add 30 per cent, which is just incredible – to think that we have to spend that much extra because they cannot manage money. It is also they cannot manage the workforce and who they have working on these projects. So we have got the cost overruns and the rorting that is going on, people putting in for shifts they are not working. People are working three shifts at the one time, apparently. You can clock up 8 hours pretty easily on three different worksites and still be paid. You can turn up, lie down and have a little sleep and still be paid your 8 hours because you have the protection.

We have violence against women on worksites, and this is where I am going to spend the next part of my contribution. The treatment of women in construction, including on the Big Build and on government projects, is nothing but abhorrent and it has been left to go. The Premier was all talk at question time today about everything she has been doing. Well, let me tell you everything she has not been doing for 10 years to get it to this state. It was exposed on 60 Minutes and in the Age by Nick McKenzie, Sarah Danckert and Amelia Ballinger. We have seen others as well who have done that great exposé. But the chief investigator for the CFMEU administration, Geoffrey Watson SC, said the Big Build had become a place of resort for violent criminals. That is just not good enough. The government should have greater control and oversight. These people, whether they are bikies, outlaw motorcycle gang guys or violent criminals, should not be on our worksites.

We have three absolutely troubling examples that were exposed. One woman was bashed by a bikie-linked health and safety representative on his lunchbreak from a government-funded project in an attack caught on camera. I really hope that those opposite are listening to this, because these are failures under their watch. Another woman was locked in a small room, and this was at the half-built Footscray Hospital, I think. It is a government hospital. The man was previously jailed for violence against women, and he was smoking ice as he detained her. So not only was he undertaking a horrific act, but he was also off his face at the at the same time – doubly concerning. Another was bashed outside her worksite, and this was also taxpayer funded, by a man with deep connections to senior CFMEU figures. That person had a similarly frightening past. So we have had violent criminals and those on drugs, and what they have done and how they have treated these women is extraordinary. It is extraordinary that they have done it and more extraordinary that they have got away.

So what happens to the women that speak out? Well, gosh, we would like the women to speak out, but they are penalised. We have had Lilly Munro, who said she was one of these women who were harassed. She said ‘sexual harassment was normalised and endemic’. And why was that the case? Because they had the protection. The perpetrators had the protection of the CFMEU or the state government contractors. That is not right. The women need to be protected on these worksites, and Lilly Munro found herself black-banned. So she is the one who has been traumatised, she is the one who has had violence perpetrated against her, but she is the one who suffers the consequences, not those who have perpetrated it. It is just extraordinary. And the Premier, as I said, is all talk. These people should not be on a worksite.

These stories are disturbing for a number of reasons. First of all, that they happen is staggering in itself. But secondly, those with violent histories are working on these worksites. How do they get there? Jobs for the boys, I would say. I know that those on that side are very good at providing jobs for the boys. They have all got their mates in the CFMEU. Regardless of people’s background, whether they are skilled or not, jobs for the boys sees them on these worksites. And thirdly, it is for the protection of the perpetrators, so that the women who complain are the ones who suffer.

Jess Hill, who is an author and journalist – she wrote See What You Made Me Do; it is about coercive control – said it was frightening that the taxpayer dollar has been used in this way. She said:

… inaction on bikie infiltration was always going to lead to unsafe work environments and violence against women.

Inaction. The Premier – what has her role been in this? Well, prior to being Premier, she was the Minister for Major Projects, and she has enabled that rampant corruption and union misconduct to continue on Big Build sites. This illegal behaviour, the thuggish standover tactics and manipulation of contract agreements, has contributed to $50 billion in those major project cost blowouts that I mentioned earlier. She has turned a blind eye. There have been warnings, and at best she has turned a blind eye.

Today there are revelations that perhaps the government have been letting this corruption continue, but the Premier has turned a blind eye to years of illegal and thuggish behaviour. She oversaw preferential treatment of the CFMEU in tender documents that favoured them for the scrapped Commonwealth Games village build. In 2022 Premier Allan was provided with detailed evidence from an Indigenous labour hire firm of violence and banning by CFMEU officials. In that instance WorkSafe said they could not investigate, because they needed to be invited onto the site. That was not going to happen. I think that was another absolute failure of the government. The Premier for 12 months sat on a letter, took no action and passed the buck to the Commonwealth. What we have seen here is that every Victorian has paid the price through higher taxes and fees because the Premier has allowed her mates in the CFMEU to blow out the costs everywhere.

The government have a women-in-construction strategy. I think it was released last year. If you look at the minister’s message at the front from the former Minister for Industrial Relations Tim Pallas, he said:

There will only be equal numbers of men and women working in construction if we take steps to attract, recruit and retain female workers.

Let me tell you, for Lilly Munro and her mates standing up against it, the terrible violence that is perpetrated on government worksites is certainly not going to do anything for the attraction, recruitment and retention of female workers. He then goes on to say:

We need to make women aware that construction is an attractive and viable career option. Women must be proactively recruited and have access to strong career pathways. Workplaces must be inclusive and adaptive to ensure that women stay in the industry.

The government on one hand is saying, ‘We want women to be in construction. We want to attract and recruit and tell them what a great industry it is, what wonderful career pathways they can have,’ but I will tell you what, while their mates in the CFMEU are running the joint, not just here but all of these big construction projects on the Big Build, women are not going to be attracted. I think the government need to have a look at their strategy, but they also need to have a jolly good look at their relationships with those that are perpetrating such violence.

I think back to John Setka and to the CFMEU, and I know that there are paid-up government members of the CFMEU in this workplace now. I know there are also supporters of the CFMEU. We had an incident I think when John Setka was charged and women here reached out to him. We had the member for Kororoit with her mate Johnny. We had the member for Broadmeadows and the federal member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters, a former CEO of EMILY’s List, all reaching out to express their sympathy to John. Of those women no-one reached out to say, ‘Mate, that was out of line. What you did was wrong and it was out of line.’ They did not condemn him for that behaviour. At the same time, they were happy to stand side by side with Rosie Batty. I do not think you can have it both ways. You are either standing against violence against women and with Rosie Betty or standing with John Setka.

At the time we put a question to the Minister for Women, asking whether or not she would call out the behaviour of John Setka. The minister would not call out the behaviour of John Setka. I think it is a name that those on government benches are a bit reluctant to use. They are very wary of using it, but they are still there in the background supporting him. The minister would not condemn his behaviour. We asked questions also about whether he was appropriate to be a mentor or a role model in one of their programs, in the Modelling Respect and Equality program, and they really did not want to answer that as well.

There are so many problems in Victoria. There are problems for women in Victoria. There are problems for women at work and the government has not done its duty, its due diligence to keep women safe on these worksites. They need to do more. The Premier says, ‘We’re doing everything.’ Well, we want to see these people off the worksites. They should not be on the hospitals, on the Big Build construction sites. Drugs should not be on those sites. I can only imagine if we have got examples of people taking ice that their drug policies are failing. They should be tested, and they should not be on those worksites where you have machinery that is dangerous. We see all of the time warnings about using heavy machinery if you are on any sorts of drugs. We have got the outlaw motorcycle gangs, the bikies, infiltrating these workplaces, and that is just not the right way to lead Victoria.

As the chief investigator for the CFMEU administrator Geoffrey Watson said, the Big Build has become a ‘place of resort’ for violent criminals. If it is a place of resort for violent criminals, they need to do a lot more to get rid of them, to really up the ante and to make that safe for women, because women should be able to choose a career where they want and to know that they will be safe in their workplace. The government has failed on all counts.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Before I call the member, I also would like to acknowledge in the gallery Clem Newton-Brown, former member for Prahran. Welcome back.