{"id":839068,"date":"2026-08-02T03:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839068\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T03:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:53:14","slug":"premier-dismisses-oppositon-draft-terms-of-reference-for-big-build-inquiry-as-a-stunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839068\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier dismisses oppositon draft terms of reference for Big Build inquiry as a ‘stunt’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victorian Premier Ben Carroll says he would be “happy” to appear before a royal commission into construction sector corruption, but has rejected any immediate help from the state opposition in determining terms of reference for the inquiry.<\/p>\n

A royal commission into corruption in Victoria’s Big Build was the first thing Mr Carroll announced after he took over from Jacinta Allan as premier last week.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Jess Wilson has released her party’s proposed terms of reference for the royal commission and said she won’t support terms that are devised by Labor alone.<\/p>\n

Ms Wilson described the opposition’s proposed terms of reference as “non-negotiable.”<\/p>\n

At the top of the opposition’s witness wish list was former premier Daniel Andrews, construction sector mediator Mick Gatto, disgraced former CFMEU boss John Setka and recently-resigned premier Jacinta Allan.<\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/p>\n

The opposition listed former premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan as potential witnesses in their royal commission proposal. (AAP Image: Daniel Pockett)<\/p>\n

Mr Carroll and his deputy leader Gabrielle Williams were also on the opposition’s 25-person list of witnesses to be called in its proposed terms of reference.<\/p>\n

On Sunday morning Mr Carroll said he “would be happy” to give evidence if required, but dismissed the opposition’s proposed terms of reference and witness list as a “stunt”.<\/p>\n

“The opposition are about stunts, I’m about deeds not words,” Mr Carroll said.<\/p>\n

“I’m working with the chief commissioner and getting on with the job of the terms of reference for the royal commission.”<\/p>\n

Mr Carroll said he had not read the opposition’s proposals for the royal commission.<\/p>\n

“I will read it but we haven’t been able to find it. I think the media got a copy of it before I did and I’ve asked my office to track down a copy,” he said.<\/p>\n

Last week, former commissioner of Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC), Robert Redlich, said Mr Andrews and Ms Allan should “undoubtedly” be called to give evidence before the royal commission.<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr Carroll would not say whether he believed Mr Andrews and Ms Allan should be called as witnesses, as proposed by the opposition.<\/p>\n

“Everyone should be questioned that the royal commission believes had a role,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That’ll be a matter for the commissioner and the terms of reference. They’ll be wide and they’ll be exhaustive.”<\/p>\n

\"Jess<\/p>\n

Jess Wilson says the opposition will not support terms of reference for the royal commission that are set by labor alone. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Ms Wilson rejected Mr Carroll’s characterisation of the opposition’s proposed terms of reference.<\/p>\n

“I say to the premier, integrity is not a stunt. Victorians deserve answers, they deserve to know how their money has gone from these worksites into the pockets of criminals,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Ben Carroll sat next to Jacinta Allan for three years. He endorsed every single decision that this premier made.”<\/p>\n

In a letter to the premier accompanying the opposition’s proposed terms of reference, Ms Wilson said the inquiry should extend beyond the CFMEU.<\/p>\n

“Since the scandal first became public, further information has emerged that demonstrates the inquiry must extend beyond the conduct of one union,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

“It must examine the broader system through which major projects have been selected, procured, administered and funded.<\/p>\n

“As you rightly identified in your press conference yesterday, those terms of reference must be expansive. They must also specifically examine \u2014 at public hearings as a matter of urgency \u2013the knowledge and culpability of what current and former Premiers, Ministers and senior officials knew.”<\/p>\n

Ms Wilson said her party would not support “narrow terms designed by Labor alone” or the appointment of a commissioner without consultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victorian Premier Ben Carroll says he would be “happy” to appear before a royal commission into construction sector…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,283981,191512,19673,127355,44,26296,30954],"class_list":["post-839068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ben-carroll","tag-big-build","tag-corruption","tag-jess-wilson","tag-news","tag-premier","tag-royal-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}