New documents have confirmed the Suburban Rail Loop Authority has spent $466,950 on three concurrent contracts with different consultants for "executive recruitment services", including:
- The Safe Step Recruitment & Consulting Pty Ltd - $148,500.
- Tandem Partners Pty Ltd - $140,250.
- SHK - $178,200.
These contracts commenced in June 2025 - the same month the Silver Review, a review into reducing the size of the Victorian Public Service and "the appropriate level of executives", was handed to the Allan Labor Government.
The engagement of multiple executive recruiters comes as the most recent SRLA annual report confirms 100 executives were paid a total of $32.65 million across 2024-25 - an average of more than $326,500 each.
Under the Labor Government, the number of Victorian Public Service executives has more than tripled, whilst net debt continues to grow at more than $2 million an hour and is expected to reach a record $194 billion by mid-2029.
Leader of the Opposition, Jess Wilson, said: "Labor's engagement of multiple executive recruitment consultants is proof they are not serious about reining in their reckless spending.
"Labor's priorities are all wrong. At the same time Victoria has shortages of police, teachers, child protection workers and healthcare professionals, Premier Allan's focus is on recruiting more and more back-office executives.
"These consultancies make a mockery of the Silver Review, which has been gathering dust on the Treasurer's desk for half a year whilst Victoria's net debt grows by more than $2 million every single hour."
Shadow Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Evan Mulholland, said: "The Suburban Rail Loop has become a symbol of waste, secrecy, and fiscal recklessness under the Allan Labor Government."
"The government is clinging to a farcical business case based on 2021 construction costs that have surged by more than 20 per cent. The SRL is never going to arrive within the $31-34 billion budget, especially when the SRLA is splurging taxpayers' dollars just to hire more senior bureaucrats."
