Victorian inquiry hears contractors faced warning over future work during union dispute
A former infrastructure official told a royal commission that a warning attributed to the minister’s office was relayed during a dispute that halted a Sunbury rail project in 2022.
By Alessia Romano ·
Contractors working on a Victorian rail project were warned that their ability to secure further work in the state depended on resolving an industrial dispute, a royal commission heard on Friday. Former Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority official Peter Wilkinson said his manager relayed the warning after discussing the stoppage with the minister’s office.
The commission is examining the integrity of major public and civil infrastructure construction projects in Victoria. Its November hearings, scheduled to continue until 20 November, centre on the 2022 removal of a level crossing at Gap Road in Sunbury. Earlier evidence described how Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union officials halted construction over purported safety concerns. Work resumed after two union health and safety representatives were appointed and traffic management and labour hire providers were replaced with CFMEU-aligned companies.
Wilkinson, now executive general manager of the Suburban Rail Loop authority, said he discussed restarting construction with his Vida manager, Evan Tattersall, at the height of the dispute. According to Wilkinson, Tattersall said on either 6 or 7 June 2022 that he had spoken with the minister’s office. Wilkinson assumed this referred to Jacinta Allan, then minister for transport infrastructure.
Wilkinson testified that Tattersall said contractors unable to manage industrial relations in Victoria could not expect further work there. He understood the remark to concern John Holland and CPB Constructions. Both were bidding for the airport rail project, Wilkinson said, although he did not know whether the minister’s office knew that. He passed the warning to Rail Network Alliance general manager Joe Aygur, who gave evidence about it on Tuesday.
Asked why the exchange with Tattersall had not been documented, Wilkinson cited the speed at which events were unfolding. He was also questioned about a meeting arranged for 5pm on 7 June 2022 at Allan’s parliament house office, the day construction resumed. Although an online invitation listed him as an optional attendee, he could not remember whether he attended.
The site’s delivery director, Stephen Villella, also testified on Friday about the meeting at CFMEU headquarters that resolved the dispute. He described having to negotiate with the union as deeply galling and said its safety complaints did not justify stopping construction. Workers feared consequences for themselves and their organisations, he said, and spent extended periods in the lunchroom when they attended the site.
Villella disputed earlier testimony from former CFMEU organiser Paul Tzimas that workers had chosen not to work, saying union officials had placed them under heavy pressure. He said organiser Joe Myles suggested during the headquarters meeting that cooperation could help contractors win future tenders, including Melbourne airport rail. Myles also claimed direct access to Allan’s office, according to Villella.
Villella said Myles departed abruptly during the first half of the roughly 30-minute meeting. He rejected a suggestion from Myles’ counsel that Tzimas, rather than Myles, had presented the union’s demands. Construction returned to normal after managers accepted them, Villella said.
Senior counsel assisting Chris Carr SC said Vida had supplied substantial relevant material overnight following criticism on Thursday of its delayed disclosure. The new documents had opened several avenues of investigation, making further witness testimony unlikely before Tuesday.
