Jacinta Allan has been subjected to intense questioning by the media after a retired public servant claimed the government pressured him to dump a contractor for an infrastructure project on behalf of the CFMEU.
Former Victorian Health Building Authority official Stephen King told The Age that he was pressured to kick a plastering subcontractor off the $320 million upgrade of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
He claimed that the government pushed the issue because the contractor was in a dispute with the CFMEU.
Ms Allan repeatedly denied the claims were true when she was pressed during a media conference on Tuesday.
“Those media reports are not correct. Those reports are wrong, and there is no evidence or basis for that claim,” the Victorian Premier said.
The Victorian Premier stopped short of claiming Mr King had lied in his claim.
When a reporter put it to her that the claim was made by a very senior former official and backed up by two others, Ms Allan simply repeated her denial.
“Following information being provided to the government yesterday, information was sought from the agency, which is on the basis of which my advice is that that claim is incorrect,” she said.
Ms Allan also repeated her well-worn line that anyone with information about corruption or misconduct should go to the authorities.
“I’ve said this on previous occasions, and I’ll repeat it again. If there are people who hold information or evidence that raises particular concerns about behaviour, that should be referred … to Victoria Police or other independent agencies,” she said.
“For example, the Fair Work Commission, there’s also the Independent Victorian Workplace Inspectorate, who are able to investigate disputes between contractors.
“If anyone has information to provide, they should be putting it to those independent agencies.”
Mr King was the VHBA’s executive director of high-value-high risk projects at the time.
His claim has since been backed up by two other officials, who did not wish to be named.
Mr King said the government’s intervention and its relationship with the CFMEU was “absolutely inappropriate”.
“The pressure came down to me from the government, and I was told it wanted the subcontractor gone,” Mr King told The Age.
“When I asked about it, I was told the CFMEU was putting pressure on the government and the CFMEU was meeting the government regularly.
“It was absolutely inappropriate.”
The former senior public servant said he learned over many years working on major infrastructure projects that the now disgraced Victorian division of the CFMEU held significant influence over which contractors were given work on government sites.
Senior Victoria Police officers attached to the taskforce set up to tackle corruption in the state’s construction sector said last month that new laws were required for them to go after much of the conduct that has been reported.
Labor has faced persistent calls to establish a Royal Commission into corruption on the state’s Big Build.
Multiple corruption experts insisted the inquiry was the only way to get to the bottom of the state’s biggest ever corruption scandal.
The Premier again rejected the idea on Tuesday.
It comes as Ms Allan’s personal popularity continues to be a drag on the Labor vote in Victoria ahead of the November election.
According to the latest Resolve Political Monitor, Labor and the Coalition are tied on 27 per cent primary support, with One Nation trailing on 22 per cent.
However, Ms Allan’s net favourability dropped to -36 per cent.
In terms of preferred premier, Ms Allan trails Opposition Leader Jess Wilson by 19 points, 43 to 24 per cent.