Daniel Andrews-linked evidence withheld from commission
Duncan Murray and Andrew Stafford |
A state government agency has been slammed for withholding evidence from a royal commission, including two former premiers’ knowledge of a key union stoush.
The Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority copped an icy rebuke at the opening of Thursday’s hearing for failing to provide relevant documents in a timely manner.
Documents withheld from the commission included text messages with references to then-premier Daniel Andrews’ office and notes of a meeting attended by then transport minister and future premier Jacinta Allan.
“It is profoundly disappointing in light of everything that’s been said by the premier of this state about the importance of this commission,” senior counsel assisting Chris Young KC told the inquiry into major Victorian construction projects.
Text messages from the period, including a reference to Mr Andrews’ office, were only provided to the commission on Tuesday, despite a requirement to do so much earlier.
“Those messages included reference to the PPO, which we understand to be a reference to the Premier’s Private Office,” Mr Young said.
The messages also referred to Matt Toner who at the time was a close adviser to Mr Andrews, and Matt Phelan who was chief of staff to Corey Hannett, the then director-general of the delivery authority’s predecessor, the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority.
Disgraced former CFMEU Victoria boss John Setka made reference to Mr Toner during a March 2024 delegates meeting at the time he left his role as premier’s advisor.
“Matt Toner has left his position as premier’s advisor,” Mr Setka said.
“He was a good asset to the union.”
In light of the text messages, the commission will seek to arrange for Mr Toner and Mr Phelan to give evidence, Mr Young said.
Handwritten notes by former Rail Projects Victoria chief executive Evan Tattersall, were provided to the commission with dozens of pages relating to relevant periods entirely redacted.
An unredacted version of the notes was only provided on Wednesday following multiple requests.
The notes included references to a two-day work stoppage on a major level crossing removal at Gap Road in Sunbury, northwest of Melbourne, in June of 2022, which is the focus of the commission’s first hearing block.
Notes on an online meeting attended by Ms Allan on June 7 at 5.30pm relating to the stoppage were also initially redacted.
Redacted entries in Mr Tattersall’s notebook, which were only revealed following multiple requests by the commission included, “CFMEU driving some companies re: Aboriginal employment out of business because won’t use”.
Another redacted entry read, “Claim RIA (Rail Infrastructure Alliance) hasn’t engaged with CFMEU”.
Commissioner Chris Kourakis said the late provision of the information had disrupted the commission’s line of investigation.
“I encourage in the strongest terms, early, genuine, and comprehensive disclosure by all serving or former ministers and public servants and their advisers,” he said.
Lawyer for delivery authority Richard Knowles KC apologised to the commission for any shortcomings in the production of evidence.
Meanwhile, another former state premier and current opposition leader came under pressure after Queensland’s long-running inquiry into the CFMEU released its interim findings late on Wednesday.
Labor’s Steven Miles apologised on Thursday after reviewing the findings, which revealed that the state’s so-called Best Practice Industry Conditions industrial agreement had been exploited by the union, driving up construction costs by at least 20 per cent.
Mr Miles admitted his government should have acted sooner and done more.
The CFMEU was widely considered to have held significant influence with former Labor governments in both Queensland and Victoria, John Holland general manager for industrial relations, Trent Smith told the royal commission on Thursday.
“Certainly different to the other states,” he said.
AAP