Victoria Police will launch a new taskforce into “shocking and unacceptable” allegations of criminal activity on construction sites in Victoria.
Victoria Police will launch a new taskforce into “shocking and unacceptable” allegations of criminal activity on construction sites in Victoria.
By Kieran Rooney and Chip Le Grand
March 17, 2025 — 12.22pm
Police will launch a new taskforce to investigate “shocking and unacceptable” allegations of criminal activity on construction sites in Victoria, following revelations of further misconduct on taxpayer-funded projects.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Monday announced that the Operation Hawk taskforce would be established immediately, focusing on organised crime and criminal behaviour occurring on worksites across Victoria.
The premier said Victoria Police made the decision after she met with Acting Commissioner Rick Nugent about the revelations, which aired Sunday night in a joint investigation from this masthead and 60 Minutes.
A continuation of The Age’s Building Bad series, the fresh media investigation included allegations that gangland and bikie-linked figures were receiving large payments from companies on publicly funded projects looking to gain favour with figures within the CFMEU.
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Bank and financial records reveal payments continued, even after state and federal governments promised last year to stamp out bad behaviour in the nation’s construction sector by forcing the construction division of the CFMEU into administration and committing to sweeping reforms and inquiries.
“What we saw last night with further revelations and information was again shocking and completely unacceptable,” Allan said.
“Operation Hawk will investigate these new allegations, but also, too, pursue a focus on organised crime, on criminal behaviour that may be taking place across work sites here in Victoria.”
Allan said she was also briefed on multiple investigations that began after the Building Bad investigation was first published in July last year.
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The premier said she was “sickened to my core” on viewing footage that showed an alleged assault of a woman on a worksite and to hear experiences of other women who detailed experiences of being harassed and black-banned from projects.
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“I just want to say clearly to those women who have been impacted, this is wrong. This is not right, and my thoughts are with those women who have had these awful, devastating experiences,” she said.
The government pledged to immediately implement two recommendations from Greg Wilson’s state review into the troubled construction sector.
They included a complaints process for whistleblowers and strengthening of the work between federal and state agencies.
However, Industrial Relations Minister Jaclyn Symes said laws creating the complaints body, known as the workforce inspectorate, would not come before the parliament this week.
“It has been under development since we received the report, and it requires legislation to set up, the workforce inspectorate, and that is imminent.”
The inspectorate will be tasked to have a special focus on women’s safety when set up, Symes said.
Allan defended the Wilson review despite criticism from Geoffrey Watson SC – the barrister appointed to probe wrongdoing by the CFMEU administrator – that the review amounted to a cover-up because “it didn’t get to the bottom of anything”.
“I disagree. We moved quickly last year with a zero-tolerance approach to this bullying … and allegations of illegal behaviour,” she said.
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“It is why, among a range of actions, we referred these allegations to IBAC, to Victoria Police, to the independent agencies who have the authority and the power to investigate … anyone with any information that goes to illegal behaviour in this state has a responsibility to refer that information to those agencies.”
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin pledged to end the “farce” of organised criminals profiting from state government projects.
“While hardworking Victorians struggle to pay their bills and put food on the table, Labor is allowing criminals to rake in millions from taxpayer-funded projects,” he said.
“This isn’t just incompetence – it’s complicity. Labor has created a system that protects their mates while turning a blind eye to corruption and criminal infiltration on Victoria’s biggest infrastructure projects.”
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Kieran Rooney is a Victorian state political reporter at The Age.Connect via email.
Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.
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