3 hours ago
2
A former senior official who oversaw the redevelopment of a Victorian hospital says the state Labor government intervened in the taxpayer-funded project to pressure public servants to sack a company that had attracted the disapproval of the CFMEU.
The revelation by now retired executive director of the Victorian Health Building Authority Stephen King that he was improperly pushed by the government to cave in to the construction union’s demands to sack a plastering firm comes amid fresh evidence showing subcontractors involved in allegedly corrupt deals with union bosses have earned millions from Labor’s Big Build hospital projects.
Most of the suspect dealings will not be investigated, however. Senior police have told The Age they do not have the power to effectively probe alleged wrongdoing on taxpayer-funded sites and Premier Jacinta Allan has refused to call an independent commission of inquiry to examine allegations of serious corruption.
In an exclusive interview, King said that while he served as the VHBA’s executive director of high-value high-risk projects, his former agency – which oversees planning and delivery of the state’s health infrastructure – was directed by the government to remove a plastering subcontractor from the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital site because the firm was embroiled in a dispute with the CFMEU. The project was completed in April 2024.
“It was absolutely inappropriate,” King said, in comments backed by two VHBA insiders who asked to remain anonymous but confirmed his account.
“The pressure came down to me from the government, and I was told it wanted the subcontractor gone. When I asked about it, I was told the CFMEU was putting pressure on the government and the CFMEU was meeting the government regularly.”
King, who has decades of experience managing major government projects, said the intervention of the state government was improper because it was up to project managers, rather than politicians or the CFMEU, to determine which subcontractors could work on a site.
He said that in his many years working on major infrastructure projects in NSW and Victoria, he had discovered the CFMEU in Victoria held far more power over which subcontractors won government work.
“The unions would tell you who’s going on the project. They say these [firms] are kosher, these aren’t. So don’t even bother with these ones.”
King said he would have no issue testifying before an independent inquiry about the Labor government’s intervention on the Eye and Ear Hospital project, which cost $320 million in state and federal funds.
The allegation of Labor government meddling on a taxpayer-funded project on behalf of the CFMEU mirrors revelations – published by The Age earlier this month – that in 2022, while now-Premier Jacinta Allan was transport minister, her office intervened in the Gap Road level crossing removal project in Sunbury on behalf of the CFMEU. Allan dismissed the claims, despite Gap Road project insiders confirming them.
It was not Allan’s office that intervened in the hospital project but that of another minister, King said.
On Monday, Allan sought to turn attention to Labor’s health credentials and away from continuing and growing calls for a building industry corruption royal commission – calls privately supported by some Labor MPs – by spruiking the $1.1 billion Frankston Hospital redevelopment.
A government spokesperson later responded to questions about the Eye and Ear Hospital redevelopment by saying: “These claims have no basis.”
An investigation by this masthead can reveal that two CFMEU-aligned plastering firms accused in official reports of corrupt dealings with sacked union bosses secured lucrative subcontracts at the union-controlled Frankston project at which Allan was speaking on Monday.
The firms, Expoconti and Express Interiors, also won significant work at the redevelopment of Footscray Hospital, another Allan government signature Big Build health project.
Meanwhile, a third subcontractor which worked on the Ballarat Hospital redevelopment has been identified by The Age as having paid funds to underworld figure Mick Gatto’s crew via a front company created by a gangland accountant raided by the federal police in March 2025.
The recent revelations that over a dozen Big Build subcontractors have paid the gangland veteran and his associates at the suggestion of the CFMEU in order to access or remain on state government projects has reignited debate about the Allan government’s failure to stamp out wrongdoing in the state’s construction sector and protect public funds from potential misuse.
Earlier this month, Victoria Police said that without changes to the law, it couldn’t investigate wrongdoing on the Big Build, while senior police also stressed that the majority of witnesses were too scared to co-operate with them.
But on Monday, Allan repeated her previous comments that those with knowledge of wrongdoing should contact police.
Expoconti’s allegedly improper dealings with disgraced former union boss John Perkovic were detailed before the Queensland CFMEU commission of inquiry in February this year by the CFMEU administration’s corruption investigator, Geoffrey Watson, SC.
Watson said he had uncovered emails from the CFMEU that revealed what he alleged was a “sham transaction” involving Expoconti’s owner Nick Lee providing Perkovic almost $50,000 for the cash purchase of a BMW.
Watson said Lee and Perkovic both provided unreliable accounts when interviewed about the money, with the pair claiming it was a loan because Perkovic was “short of cash.” Watson concluded it was “plainly” improper for a plastering company boss to give money to a union boss, with Perkovic sacked from the CFMEU for corruption late last year.
When contacted by The Age, Lee denied all wrongdoing and said his loan to Perkovic was “purely two friends helping each other”.
He also said Expoconti won work on union sites like the Frankston Hospital on merit and as a result of its strong performance, and had become the go-to firm for all of Labor’s hospital mega-projects.
Since 2019, Victoria Police has been investigating Express Interiors over allegations it gave inducements in the form of free labour and materials to ex-CFMEU boss Derek Christopher in return for his help pushing the firm onto major projects.
Files seen by this masthead reveal that police surveillance captured Express Interiors staff working on the renovation of Christopher’s home, but the police investigation stalled because of the force’s inadvertent misuse of certain powers and the failure to get witnesses to give sworn police statements for fear of repercussions from Christopher – who now works for Express as a part-time safety co-ordinator.
Express Interiors managing director Greg Edwards said he provided materials and labour to Christopher’s home renovation after the father of the union boss requested his help.
“His father asked me because they [Derek and his wife] just had young children and they couldn’t afford to pay,” Edwards said, adding he had co-operated with the subsequent police investigation and ensured Christopher ultimately paid him for the work.
“Derek has been really hard done by.”
Three sources who worked on the Footscray Hospital site said Christopher had abused his union power to place favoured firms on the government project, which was managed by tier-one contractor Multiplex. Multiplex was also previously investigated by Victoria Police for allegedly giving free supplies and labour to Christopher.
Christopher also demanded the employment of criminals on the Footscray Hospital site, including Nick Bouras, who has convictions for extreme violence against women but who was placed on the site after his release from jail.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
