Only a royal commission can get to the bottom of mounting claims of misconduct on Victoria’s Big Build

‘Jacinta Allan said she was taking “decisive action” to give Ibac the powers it needs, although not until the end of 2027 and after the next state election. Decisively too late,’ writes Deborah Glass. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

The revelations keep rolling in – organised crime gangs, underworld figures and a raft of unsavoury characters on building sites, profiting from Victoria’s massive spend on infrastructure – the much-vaunted Big Build. Evidence of intimidation, extortion, fraud and bribery among the myriad of misdeeds. All on government construction sites funded by the public purse, at an escalating cost.

Yet the Victorian premier’s latest response is to blame inflation, not corruption, and to claim that existing agencies have the matter in hand.