Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 1:00 pm
It is reckless for anyone to make unfounded claims of a $15 billion cost to taxpayers from our Big Build.
As lawyers, our professional credibility rests on evidence. It goes to who we are.
We are bound to make a clear distinction between allegation and proof, and the rule of law depends on this.
The line between fact and allegation has now been blurred.
Mark Irving saw that, lawyers see that and we see that. – Statement has an attached pdf
x404Void on
I’m open to believing it’s not $15 billion but we aren’t being told what the alternative/more accurate figure is and I bet it merely shaves $1-2 billion off the figure quoted.
Agenreddit on
What I want to know is why a report from Queensland is suddenly so pertinent to us here, even before any of the spooky “there’s a cover-up” conspiracy thinking comes into play.
doigal on
Hilarious they are screaming about integrity when IBAC are publicly begging to get the funding and powers they need to do their job.
I don’t know how much I love the Attorney-General performing a political defense of the government’s Big Build (and by association the state government) rather than acting as a neutral guardian of legal integrity. This isn’t the first time Sonya Kilkenny has been on the defence; she did exactly the same thing with the youth crime crisis and critics of the government’s response.
It is clear that there were significant concerns, including an IBAC referral that Premier Allen knew would fall outside of its jurisdiction. There hasn’t been a proper investigation into these allegations, but already the AG’s official response is “nothing to see here.” This isn’t the way to handle these sorts of concerns, especially given the figures alleged.
taurus-rising on
Really interesting in this case now, as it seems to have fully radicalised my farther into a becoming a one nation supporter (he was already on the way) he wont shut up about it, sadly this is modern politics. It’s too late even if it’s proven false.
MeasurementLanky8646 on
How much of that $15bn went to the Atoorney General I wonder.
Distinct-Apartment-3 on
Geoffrey Watson was retained by the CFMEU to help it clean house prior to the Administration being appointed.
When the administrator was appointed anyway, Setka stood down, Watson was given his marching orders, ‘swapped’ sides with ALL of the material he had gathered as part of his work with the Union and has since used his privileged information to create this report.
Basically, it’s an editorial of untested and untried information from a man on 25k a month who’s worked for both sides with privilege.
If anyone who reads this thinks that’s ok in any kind of case law, I hope you’re never in court.
MarkFromTheInternet on
What the context on this ?
XirvusRei on
Wtf kind of statement is this. It tells me nothing.
[deleted] on
[deleted]
ChickawawaBaby on
If they are that concerned about their credibility, put it to the test and allow IBAC to do a proper and thorough investigation into the corruption that is taking place.
This is beyond disgraceful. If we, as Victorians, allow this government to get away with this at the next election, then I give up. We can’t reward this behaviour by giving them another 3 to 4 years of handing our taxes to criminals.
JeremysIronman on
Statement from me:
Lol.
lol.pdf
gazmal on
15 B figure has no evidence. It is very flimsy stuff and will go nowhere.
When I saw the 15 billion headline, I immediately said “that sounds like some inflated nonsense”.
This statement makes it seem more legitimate than if they had just said nothing and let the public look at the information themselves.
somewhatundercontrol on
The formatting is terrible.
filthridden on
Big time Streisand effect incoming.
yobboman on
Wth is this?
Didn’t they know it’s their job to sit on their fat arses all day sipping tea?
peepeepopopee on
Did they hit send by accident or something?
The-Jesus_Christ on
And the statement pdf is a 403 lol. The whole thing is just Trump in nature.
M4K4T4K on
This is really important. I’m so glad I read this!
blankdreamer on
Wow – this is a straight out threat. They are incredibly defensive. Where there is smoke….
Important_Finding604 on
If the CFMEU was ensuring that their workers were being paid decent living wages is that a bad thing?
The guardian reported that workers were getting up to $1900 per week pre tax. This is about $50 per hour or around $1500 per week after tax Doesn’t seem unreasonable, not when median rent in Melbourne is over $500.
So these “overpaid” workers still needed to work over 12 hours just to cover their rent.
As a teacher, I myself must work 14 hours to cover my rent. For comparison, when i was a student I was able to pay my rent with just 4 hours of work per week and i was earning below minimum wage in hospitality.
Now I wouldn’t call paying a worker so little that they have to spend a third of their income just to cover rent excessive . I certainly don’t resent other workers in other industries having a union that insists their workers are paid half decent wages. I also don’t think we should consider as a nation that workers building essential infrastructure being paid fairly as a cost blow out for tax payers.
The question should rather be why these workers and all workers are getting so much less for their time than we were 20 years ago??
If the CFMEU has had to fight to get their workers this unimpressive income for today’s world than they are doing a good job – but there is further to go. I wish my teachers union would likewise do better. Our last pay deal was just for 1% increase per year – when inflation was often over 10%!!! But it’s because the CFMEU are basically the only union that achieves actual pay rises above inflation rates that I believe they are targeted in the media.
A payrise to meet inflation is NOT a cost blow out. It should be considered a minimum standard. We should be supportive of unions that achieve this and direct our wrath against the unions, businesses and politicians that argue that all Australian workers be paid less each year. Which they have been successfully achieving for decades now. These are the agents and actors that are truly costing Australian taxpayers the most. Don’t fall for their lies.
jonesyie on
I can’t claim to have read every media statement ever, but this is the worst media statement I have ever read:
1. It’s ambiguous
2. It’s written from within the Spring St ‘bubble’
3. It reeks of hubris
4. It is a veiled threat at the unnamed official and a media organisation
5. Worst of all, It doesn’t actually deny the allegation that Big Build corruption has cost the state $15 billion
sness900 on
With 15 Billion on the table gone, the simple fact no one is serving massive sentences for this is just mind blowing.
RipEnvironmental6978 on
We do need more lawyers.
And they are always right 🤦♂️
RipEnvironmental6978 on
And people get paid to put out 💩 like this?
Prior_Statistician83 on
Forgot to sign off with “THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION ON THIS MATTER”
GmanX333 on
So what is the evidence $15 billion was lost? The report doesn’t even give specific details. Is there any evidence of it?
CuriouserCat2 on
This much reaction COULD mean that the corruption investigating barrister MIGHT be on to something.
At least they built something I guess. At least it didn’t all go on private schools and Rolls Royces.
PiDicus_Rex on
Time for a new Attorney General.
BottingWorks on
If we can prove that the corruption occurred with the Big Build, I’m all for mass arrests, resigntations and jail time. Did the report that the QC release contain proof of his claims? I just don’t want to have been taken for a ride because I want to get angry at the shitty state government for any reason at this stage.
Praying for a competent conservative party anywhere in Australia at this stage. Feels like we get to choose between;
1. Greens, staunch on issues for no reason other than to be combative. Prefer to be minority or part of a coalition as then they don’t need to make the tough decisions.
2. Liberal, small brain big head religious fanatics and closet bigots mixed with ultra privilege.
3. Labor, essentially center right these days, only interested in making money and putting up weak, weak chinless men to whisper on the global stage.
4. Clown Parties, ON/ Clive Palmer types that hope they can latch onto the right wing fervor from US to get into power to make some of the money that Labor is making and then retire in Bali. (Saying no immigration isn’t a policy. **HOW DO WE PAY FOR THE COUNTRY WITHOUT IMMIGRANT INCOME TAX BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO MAKE ANY MONEY FROM OUR NATURAL RESOURCES.**
thesillyoldgoat on
$15 billion is an awful lot of money which would be very difficult to cover up or hide, it doesn’t really make sense to me and seems like a figure plucked out of thin air.
I’m not saying that there was and is no corruption in the Victorian building industry, but there was a $60 million Royal Commission not so long ago which didn’t find any of remotely the scale that’s being bandied around now.
LilafromSyd on
Lol at this juvenile statement just focusing on the bit that got deleted from the report. The money is just one part. What about the grift, crime, corruption, fraud, intimidation, death threats, assault, forced insolvencies, theft, property damage, and so on and so on.
Recommend to anyone making comments like the ones I’ve seen elsewhere on reddit like ‘there were no ghost shifts’ to read the report. It is quite short and completely eye opening. Easily available to download if you search.
MumblesRed on
Great now hand down the rest of the silver report
burnerbutreallyreal on
**SKIBIDI STATEMENT FROM THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL**
It is absolutely skibidi reckless to just yeet out a random $15 billion number like it’s canon lore from the Big Build Cinematic Universe.
Lawyers don’t run on vibes. We run on receipts. Evidence is the rizz. No evidence? That’s NPC behaviour.
As lawyers, our whole sigma aura is built on knowing the difference between “I heard it in Ohio” and actual proof. Allegation is one thing. Proof is another thing. Mixing them up? That’s toilet brain.
The rule of law isn’t Skibidi Toilet Season 42 where anything goes. It depends on facts staying facts and allegations staying allegations.
Right now the line’s looking blurry. Like 144p TikTok blurry.
Mark Irving clocked it. Lawyers clocked it. We clocked it.
Don’t turn serious public debate into Skibidi chaos.
IndependentNo7265 on
Ever hear the advice about not sending an angry email as you’ll just come off as unhinged an incoherent?
That’s what we have here, from our attorney general no less.
What an amateur.
rorymeister on
Why is it so hard to do things properly? The Vic LNP are a joke and they’ll probably win the next election or at least make serious inroads. Labor have a mandate to govern as they see fit and it seems they cannot do basic due diligence when it comes to awarding contracts or auditing contracts.
If it’s incompetence or corruption, the end result should be the same. This is our tax payer money being wasted and abused.
38 Comments
Wednesday 18 February 2026 at 1:00 pm
It is reckless for anyone to make unfounded claims of a $15 billion cost to taxpayers from our Big Build.
As lawyers, our professional credibility rests on evidence. It goes to who we are.
We are bound to make a clear distinction between allegation and proof, and the rule of law depends on this.
The line between fact and allegation has now been blurred.
Mark Irving saw that, lawyers see that and we see that. – Statement has an attached pdf
I’m open to believing it’s not $15 billion but we aren’t being told what the alternative/more accurate figure is and I bet it merely shaves $1-2 billion off the figure quoted.
What I want to know is why a report from Queensland is suddenly so pertinent to us here, even before any of the spooky “there’s a cover-up” conspiracy thinking comes into play.
Hilarious they are screaming about integrity when IBAC are publicly begging to get the funding and powers they need to do their job.
[https://www.ibac.vic.gov.au/Victorias-integrity-agencies-renew-call-for-transparent-independent-funding](https://www.ibac.vic.gov.au/Victorias-integrity-agencies-renew-call-for-transparent-independent-funding)
I don’t know how much I love the Attorney-General performing a political defense of the government’s Big Build (and by association the state government) rather than acting as a neutral guardian of legal integrity. This isn’t the first time Sonya Kilkenny has been on the defence; she did exactly the same thing with the youth crime crisis and critics of the government’s response.
It is clear that there were significant concerns, including an IBAC referral that Premier Allen knew would fall outside of its jurisdiction. There hasn’t been a proper investigation into these allegations, but already the AG’s official response is “nothing to see here.” This isn’t the way to handle these sorts of concerns, especially given the figures alleged.
Really interesting in this case now, as it seems to have fully radicalised my farther into a becoming a one nation supporter (he was already on the way) he wont shut up about it, sadly this is modern politics. It’s too late even if it’s proven false.
How much of that $15bn went to the Atoorney General I wonder.
Geoffrey Watson was retained by the CFMEU to help it clean house prior to the Administration being appointed.
When the administrator was appointed anyway, Setka stood down, Watson was given his marching orders, ‘swapped’ sides with ALL of the material he had gathered as part of his work with the Union and has since used his privileged information to create this report.
Basically, it’s an editorial of untested and untried information from a man on 25k a month who’s worked for both sides with privilege.
If anyone who reads this thinks that’s ok in any kind of case law, I hope you’re never in court.
What the context on this ?
Wtf kind of statement is this. It tells me nothing.
[deleted]
If they are that concerned about their credibility, put it to the test and allow IBAC to do a proper and thorough investigation into the corruption that is taking place.
This is beyond disgraceful. If we, as Victorians, allow this government to get away with this at the next election, then I give up. We can’t reward this behaviour by giving them another 3 to 4 years of handing our taxes to criminals.
Statement from me:
Lol.
lol.pdf
15 B figure has no evidence. It is very flimsy stuff and will go nowhere.
https://preview.redd.it/270y58wnb7kg1.png?width=1336&format=png&auto=webp&s=f50584edcd4a96268851eac4b347d2e2c790e8a4
When I saw the 15 billion headline, I immediately said “that sounds like some inflated nonsense”.
This statement makes it seem more legitimate than if they had just said nothing and let the public look at the information themselves.
The formatting is terrible.
Big time Streisand effect incoming.
Wth is this?
Didn’t they know it’s their job to sit on their fat arses all day sipping tea?
Did they hit send by accident or something?
And the statement pdf is a 403 lol. The whole thing is just Trump in nature.
This is really important. I’m so glad I read this!
Wow – this is a straight out threat. They are incredibly defensive. Where there is smoke….
If the CFMEU was ensuring that their workers were being paid decent living wages is that a bad thing?
The guardian reported that workers were getting up to $1900 per week pre tax. This is about $50 per hour or around $1500 per week after tax Doesn’t seem unreasonable, not when median rent in Melbourne is over $500.
So these “overpaid” workers still needed to work over 12 hours just to cover their rent.
As a teacher, I myself must work 14 hours to cover my rent. For comparison, when i was a student I was able to pay my rent with just 4 hours of work per week and i was earning below minimum wage in hospitality.
Now I wouldn’t call paying a worker so little that they have to spend a third of their income just to cover rent excessive . I certainly don’t resent other workers in other industries having a union that insists their workers are paid half decent wages. I also don’t think we should consider as a nation that workers building essential infrastructure being paid fairly as a cost blow out for tax payers.
The question should rather be why these workers and all workers are getting so much less for their time than we were 20 years ago??
If the CFMEU has had to fight to get their workers this unimpressive income for today’s world than they are doing a good job – but there is further to go. I wish my teachers union would likewise do better. Our last pay deal was just for 1% increase per year – when inflation was often over 10%!!! But it’s because the CFMEU are basically the only union that achieves actual pay rises above inflation rates that I believe they are targeted in the media.
A payrise to meet inflation is NOT a cost blow out. It should be considered a minimum standard. We should be supportive of unions that achieve this and direct our wrath against the unions, businesses and politicians that argue that all Australian workers be paid less each year. Which they have been successfully achieving for decades now. These are the agents and actors that are truly costing Australian taxpayers the most. Don’t fall for their lies.
I can’t claim to have read every media statement ever, but this is the worst media statement I have ever read:
1. It’s ambiguous
2. It’s written from within the Spring St ‘bubble’
3. It reeks of hubris
4. It is a veiled threat at the unnamed official and a media organisation
5. Worst of all, It doesn’t actually deny the allegation that Big Build corruption has cost the state $15 billion
With 15 Billion on the table gone, the simple fact no one is serving massive sentences for this is just mind blowing.
We do need more lawyers.
And they are always right 🤦♂️
And people get paid to put out 💩 like this?
Forgot to sign off with “THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION ON THIS MATTER”
So what is the evidence $15 billion was lost? The report doesn’t even give specific details. Is there any evidence of it?
This much reaction COULD mean that the corruption investigating barrister MIGHT be on to something.
At least they built something I guess. At least it didn’t all go on private schools and Rolls Royces.
Time for a new Attorney General.
If we can prove that the corruption occurred with the Big Build, I’m all for mass arrests, resigntations and jail time. Did the report that the QC release contain proof of his claims? I just don’t want to have been taken for a ride because I want to get angry at the shitty state government for any reason at this stage.
Praying for a competent conservative party anywhere in Australia at this stage. Feels like we get to choose between;
1. Greens, staunch on issues for no reason other than to be combative. Prefer to be minority or part of a coalition as then they don’t need to make the tough decisions.
2. Liberal, small brain big head religious fanatics and closet bigots mixed with ultra privilege.
3. Labor, essentially center right these days, only interested in making money and putting up weak, weak chinless men to whisper on the global stage.
4. Clown Parties, ON/ Clive Palmer types that hope they can latch onto the right wing fervor from US to get into power to make some of the money that Labor is making and then retire in Bali. (Saying no immigration isn’t a policy. **HOW DO WE PAY FOR THE COUNTRY WITHOUT IMMIGRANT INCOME TAX BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO MAKE ANY MONEY FROM OUR NATURAL RESOURCES.**
$15 billion is an awful lot of money which would be very difficult to cover up or hide, it doesn’t really make sense to me and seems like a figure plucked out of thin air.
I’m not saying that there was and is no corruption in the Victorian building industry, but there was a $60 million Royal Commission not so long ago which didn’t find any of remotely the scale that’s being bandied around now.
Lol at this juvenile statement just focusing on the bit that got deleted from the report. The money is just one part. What about the grift, crime, corruption, fraud, intimidation, death threats, assault, forced insolvencies, theft, property damage, and so on and so on.
Recommend to anyone making comments like the ones I’ve seen elsewhere on reddit like ‘there were no ghost shifts’ to read the report. It is quite short and completely eye opening. Easily available to download if you search.
Great now hand down the rest of the silver report
**SKIBIDI STATEMENT FROM THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL**
It is absolutely skibidi reckless to just yeet out a random $15 billion number like it’s canon lore from the Big Build Cinematic Universe.
Lawyers don’t run on vibes. We run on receipts. Evidence is the rizz. No evidence? That’s NPC behaviour.
As lawyers, our whole sigma aura is built on knowing the difference between “I heard it in Ohio” and actual proof. Allegation is one thing. Proof is another thing. Mixing them up? That’s toilet brain.
The rule of law isn’t Skibidi Toilet Season 42 where anything goes. It depends on facts staying facts and allegations staying allegations.
Right now the line’s looking blurry. Like 144p TikTok blurry.
Mark Irving clocked it. Lawyers clocked it. We clocked it.
Don’t turn serious public debate into Skibidi chaos.
Ever hear the advice about not sending an angry email as you’ll just come off as unhinged an incoherent?
That’s what we have here, from our attorney general no less.
What an amateur.
Why is it so hard to do things properly? The Vic LNP are a joke and they’ll probably win the next election or at least make serious inroads. Labor have a mandate to govern as they see fit and it seems they cannot do basic due diligence when it comes to awarding contracts or auditing contracts.
If it’s incompetence or corruption, the end result should be the same. This is our tax payer money being wasted and abused.