Fresh revelations that bikie-linked brothers profited from a Victorian prison expansion and a social housing project Premier Jacinta Allan opened herself show exactly why Family First says Victoria needs Family First holding government to account in the Legislative Council.
The Age revealed this week that a plastering company run by bikie gang-linked brothers Zack and Jake Boyer won a subcontract on the $94 million Hopkins Correctional Centre expansion in Ararat and had also worked on the $44 million St Andrews social housing project Premier Jacinta Allan opened in her own electorate. The masthead reported the firm secured CFMEU backing, with a union organiser accused of promoting the brothers' business on major building sites.
"Bikie-linked brothers profiting from a prison expansion, and from a public housing project the Premier cut the ribbon on herself, is not a one-off — it's the same story The Age keeps uncovering on the Big Build. CFMEU muscle, gangland money, and taxpayers left to foot the bill."
This is not new territory for Family First. In June, Jane Foreman called for a royal commission after former IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich and former Ombudsman Deborah Glass both said only that could expose the scale of corruption on the $109 billion Big Build. A month on, gangland-linked contractors are still winning government work, and Premier Allan still refuses to act.
"We called for a royal commission when two of this state's most credible integrity figures said enough was enough. A month later, we've got bikie brothers embedded in a prison build and a housing project the Premier put her own name to. How much more evidence does Jacinta Allan need?"
Ms Foreman says the same pattern holds across the Big Build, while ordinary Victorians cut back on groceries and fall behind on power bills.
"While gangland figures are creaming money off Big Build contracts, families are skipping meals and falling behind on power bills, and Labor is still spending on things nobody will ever see."
Family First says Victoria cannot afford three more years of the same. With neither major party forcing a royal commission or real transparency on the Big Build, Ms Foreman is urging Victorians to use their vote in November to give Family First a strong voice in the Legislative Council — one that holds government to account, backs a royal commission, and insists public money is spent on families, not gangland mates and vanity projects.
"Victoria needs checks and balances. Labor won't investigate itself, and the Liberals haven't forced the issue either. A strong Family First voice in the Legislative Council will hold government to account, back a royal commission into the Big Build, and make sure public money is spent on roads, hospitals and police."
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