As reported by the SMH, The Age, ABC News & The Australian
$15 Billion in Corruption.
And They Tried to
Hide It.
An independent corruption expert estimated that $15 billion in taxpayer-funded corruption The government-appointed administrator stripped the findings from the official report. This is a cover-up.
Sign Now: Demand a Senate InquiryDemand a Full Senate Inquiry
To Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
What was deleted from the report
Victoria's Big Build is a $100 billion upgrade to the state's road and rail network, funded by the Allan and Albanese governments. An independent corruption expert found that CFMEU corruption inflated costs by an estimated 15% - roughly $15 billion of taxpayer money poured directly into the hands of criminals and organised crime gangs.
The deleted findings detailed how government inaction allowed organised crime and bikie gang infiltration to thrive on federally funded construction projects. The report concluded the Victorian government knew its projects were infected by corrupt CFMEU officials working with bikies and gangland figures - but chose to look the other way.
Mark Irving KC & Geoffrey Watson SC. Image: SMH/The Age
“I did not suggest the changes. I was directed to make the changes.”
Geoffrey Watson SC, former counsel assisting the NSW ICAC - the independent expert who authored the corruption report
The CFMEU administrator was appointed by the Albanese Government to clean up corruption. Instead, the most damning findings were stripped from the official report. The deleted chapters were only released after the media confronted the administrator - not voluntarily.
The cover-up unravelled when Queensland's Commission of Inquiry received a version of the report with a summary dot point headed “governmental inaction on the CFMEU” - but no corresponding chapter. The commission moved to use its powers to obtain the missing sections.
These findings didn't come from political opponents. They came from Geoffrey Watson SC, a former counsel assisting the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, commissioned by the government-appointed administrator to lead an 18-month investigation. When findings of this magnitude are stripped from an official report, Australians deserve answers.
To Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
We, the undersigned, call on you to:
- 1.Immediately support a full Senate inquiry into the CFMEU administration;
- 2.Release all documents relating to the administration and the altered corruption report, including drafts, deletions and instructions; and
- 3.Require the CFMEU administrator and relevant officials to give evidence under oath.
“Much of that $15 billion has been poured directly into the hands of criminals and organised crime gangs.”
Geoffrey Watson SC - independent corruption report commissioned by CFMEU administrator
The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age
“$15b poured into criminals' hands: bombshell findings CFMEU tried to hide”
Read article →ABC News
“Victorian government defends action amid allegations it was 'cowed' by CFMEU”
Read article →AUS
The Australian
“Labor knew of CFMEU corruption and did nothing, redacted report finds”
Read article →An Administrator Appointed to Clean Up Corruption. Not Sanitise It.
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