Nick McKenzie's damning new story in relation to Jacinta Allan | 3AW Melbourne

Well, apparently last night Labor's factional chiefs met and they're going to decide this morning.Do they execute the leadership of Jacinda Allen or let her remain in place?Now she has said publicly she's not going to be pushed aside.She'd dig her heels in.So there's a whole bunch of different scenarios to play out here.One is that nothing happens.

And I think that's actually the most likely outcome, that no one wants to sort of stick the knife in publicly.So Jacinda Ardern will remain leader.We're going to speak to Heidi Murphy about this in about 15 minutes time.She's going to be camped outside the Premier's office.The other one is that the Labor Party heavyweights, ministers and so forth, go to Jacinda's office today and say, look, you've lost our support.go quietly and we'll stick in Ben Carroll or Gabrielle Williams or someone like that as the new leader.

See the problem is there for Labor is they probably lose the upcoming election no matter what and so if they actually send in Alan and put someone else in and then that person also loses the election well that claims the scalps of two leaders not one.Anyway we'll follow it throughout the program this morning.We will probably know before 12 what is going to happen.Is there going to be a coup?Or will the Premier dig her heels in and say, you know, this lady's not for the turning or something like that.And if that's the case, that'll be it.

She'll remain leader to the election.And I must say personally.I don't want Jacinta Allen to be booted out by the factional heavies in the Labor Party.She's been the leader for three years.She's been minister for the Big Build, minister for the Commonwealth Games.She was Daniel Andrews' right -hand woman for many, many years as a senior minister.

We deserve to have our say in November, our say on Jacinta Allen as leader.and also the administration that she's been in charge of.There's been so many debacles.The big build is a debacle.Yes, they finish projects, but everything is cost more.And the suburban rail loop, oh my God, the more I read about it, the fact that, you know, the suburban rail loop stations won't actually link up with the existing railway stations that they're supposed to.

up to.You just think, you know, that people will be getting out of one station with their suitcases and things.They'll have to walk 500 metres, possibly through the rain, to get to the suburban rail loop.Why or how no one thought of these issues before committing all the money and digging the holes, I just don't know.And the Comm Games, I mean, I can't bring myself to look at them, because I know that You know, I, along with all of you who pay taxes, we paid for these Con Games.We could have had them.

We could have had a cut down Con Games in Melbourne.No new stadiums needed.We could have held them in October, you know, after the footy and before the Spring Racing Carnival.And I can tell you, it would have been absolutely fine.And yet we didn't do it.And we threw away hundreds of millions of dollars.

Anyway, so I say this to the Labor Party, leave Jacinto in place.Let us, as the voters, have our say in November.Now we've, um, Ben said this, apparently Ben Carroll has said in the event, in the event of a leadership spill, he will step forward as a contender.Heidi Murphy joins us again.Heidi, good morning.Good morning, Tom.

So this doesn't say that he will trigger the spill, but he says if there is a spill, he will run.Is that right?

That is my understanding.Yes.He has always been opposed to being the trigger for a challenge.He's made that extremely clear, including quite recently.But my understanding is that overnight he took quite a number of calls from MPs across different factions urging him to reconsider that stance.and urging him to put his name forward.

I understand he has gone to the Premier just in the last half hour or so and told her he will be a candidate against her if there's a leadership.

If there's a spill.So it still needs someone else to stand up and table a spill motion.

Yes, but I also understand a delegation of six ministers and two backbench MPs have been into the Premier today and I have made it extremely clear to her that she haslost the support of the party room.I've spoken to two MPs, the only two that have happened to walk past today.One, Tim Richardson, who's firmly on the Premier's side, says she's a great leader, and one, Meng Tak, an MP for Clorinda in the Lower House, who, given a number of opportunities to say, I back her, we can win with her, did not.I did not say those things.

And Jacinda Allen has already said she will not stand down, so if there is a spill, it'll be a contested spill and that could take six to eight weeks to even more time to sort out, correct?

Yes, because it has to be, it's not just a vote in the room then, it has to be under the party rules that were changed after the Rudd -Gillard -Rudd -Kerfuffle federally, it has to go out to the wider membership of the party and they get a vote.And the two candidates are out campaigning for that vote, neither of them can be in their position.So we'd have to have an acting acting premier in as well.Four, six to eight weeks.

So conceivably, say for the next two months, we could have Ben Carroll versus Jacinta Allen, but a third person who is not a candidate as the acting premier.And meanwhile, we've got an election in less than four months now.

Correct.That is the current state of play, unless one side blinks here.

All right.Thank you, Heidi.Heidi Murphy there.Well, they're having a meeting I think as we speak that'll be interesting and tomorrow they have a party meeting at 10 o 'clock.that's where this will be sorted out one way or the other.

I think it's fair to say the political future of Jacinta Allen could be over by this time tomorrow, with a number of key ministers this morning asking her to stand down, but she's fighting on.What is clear this afternoon is the Premier is defiant.She views those who no longer back her as traitors to the cause.Now make no doubt, this is no longer about what is in the best interest of the Labor Party, this is abouta matter of ego and selfishness from the Premier.Her defiance and belief that only she should lead the party will ultimately derail any chance the Labor Party has of limiting the damage come November, let alone retaining government.

Ben Carroll, today the current Deputy Premier, has told Jacinta Allen he's ready to be a candidate in any leadership contest and believes he has the numbers of the Labor caucus.And credit where it's due here to Ben Carroll, at least someone is finally willing to challenge a Premier whose leadership has thus far failed the people of Victoria.My guest to join me in a moment almost predicted this exactly two years ago.Former 3RW Mornings host Neil Mitchell appeared with Jackie Felgate on Drive on the 21st of August 2024.Here's what he had to say about Premier Jacinda Ardern.

Red Hot Tip is we'll have a new Premier by the next election.The stuff that's going on around our level of debt and that interview Tom had today with S &P, it just cannot go on.North East Link, the Metro Tunnel, the short railway platforms, the suburban loop, we are in so much trouble if we get, and they've landed it right on the government, if we get downgraded, that means we spend more money on interest payments, which means there's less money for the police, the hospitals, the ambos and everybody else.

Nostradamus, Neil Mitchell, good afternoon.

And it's only got worse, hasn't it?Out here in the real world, we are worried about going to hospitals because they're overcrowded.people running around the streets with machetes, we're worried about debt that means we can't build the state in the way we should, we're worried about corruption, we're worried about integrity and these people are brawling with themselves.What happens from here?

I mean this is the third time that there has been a real push on Jacinta Allen's leadership but now it seems to finally be coming to the fore that it is legitimately in danger.

Well it's a game of chessShane.It's a game of chicken.She has said she will stand, Ben Carroll has said he will stand.Under the party rules, pages 113 to 116, I've read them again today.I'm glad you read them.

Jeez, they go on a bit.Under the party rules, if the leader stands down and there's no other contenders, then whoever stands up gets it.But if it's contested, if you've got two candidates and the moment we've got two candidates, they both have to stand down from their official duties, you put in an acting premier, and it takes probably five to six weeks to decide who becomes the leader, because it has to go to a vote of the parliamentary party and then goes to it also goes to a vote of the membership, and they are given 28 days to vote.So, that's blowing up the party.If that happens, so who's going to be acting Premier?I don't know, some backbencher could be acting Premier.

Jacinta and Ben Carroll go head to head.They're playing chicken.A deal will be done here.One of them will be Premier this time tomorrow.I think it'll be Ben Carroll.I think the Premier is playing a game of chicken.

How can she stay after she's told six ministers they're disloyal and go?What happens to Cabinet?

I said just a moment ago that it's ego and selfishness.Is that fair?

I don't know.I think Jacinda Ardern, I haven't spoken to her for a long, long time.She banned me when Daniel was leader.

Very few on this station have in fairness.

Yeah, well that's true.I think she genuinely believes, she wants her place in history, being the first female elected Premier.She genuinely believes she can win it, better than Ben Carroll.She can't.If she has a look at the polls, and I'm sure their private polling's even worse, she will know that she cannot lead.Ben Carroll, and look at it this way too, Ben Carroll's, one of his key supporters over the years has been the former Premier Steve Brax.

One of Jacinda Allen's key supporters has been Dan Andrews, and maybe those two are advising them, I don't know.but it's like going back to a battle between Andrews and Brax it is Potentially, this blows up the party.If you have two members, two people standing, you've got no Premier for six weeks, it blows up the party.They'll be decimated in an election.That's why a deal must be done.Ben Carroll played this game when Jacinta became Premier.

He said, I'm standing.And everybody said, oh, no, no, you can't stand.It'll be a mess.All right, I'll be deputy.And they gave him the deputy's job.

Is there a problem here for Ben Carroll by the fact that he said to Jacinta Allen, looked her in the eye and said, I will not challenge you.He said that I have a daughter and, you know, I want to see that, you know, let her see that Jacinta Allen and I respect women and that kind of thing.Is that problematic now for Ben Carroll?Is that something that the opposition could feast on if he is Premier this time tomorrow?

Who would have thought a politician gives a political answer?Now, look, I don't think it's a big problem because his answer to that is, well, hang on, caucus, I know now that the caucus does not support her.What do I do?Of course I stand.But I just repeat, I don't think it will go to a ballot.I think there'll be a deal done.

I think Jacinta Allen will probably stand down, but I don't know.She's certainly playing the tough line at the moment, which is why I say it's a game of chicken.If this goes, I repeat, if it goes to a ballot, it blows up the party.

Well, they effectively lose a month and a half.half of campaigning under, as you say, potentially a backbencher or whoever else they decide as interim premier.I mean, they think they're going to lose seats now.They'll be decimated come November if they don't have a leader for the next six weeks.

Exactly.They'll look like a rabble and they will be a rabble.I mean, what will their policies be?What will their structure be?No, it can't happen, and both Jacinta Allen and Ben Carroll know that, which is why I believe that something will have to be done, a deal will have to be done.

How can a deal be done though, Neil, that leaves Jacinta Allen as Premier?The fact that six high -profile members have gone to her, ministers I should say, have gone to her and said, you don't have a deal.Ben Carroll's willing to challenge, we know what the opinion polls are when it comes to Jacinta Allen at the moment, how could a deal even be done whereby she stays in that role?It's Ben Carroll or challenge.

Well, I don't see that it can be done, but I mean, she's trying to bulldoze her way through it and do it with this threat, effectively a threat of blowing up the party.I don't see how a deal can be done.I think she's finished.I don't think you can restore the public trust, particularly after something like this, but you can't restore public trust.The latest poll today, news poll, what is it, 52 -48 coalition in front.Now, it's a two -party preferred, and one nation in the background, heaven only knows what'll happen and where that'll go.

But I don't see how she can stay.But she's going to give it a good try, and she'll go right to the line.She'll push it to the line, this game of chicken.She'll probably stand up in caucus and say, yeah, I'm standing, and Ben will stand up, and everybody will go, oh no, we've got six weeks of disaster.And then I think Jacinta might.Look, I've got to know that she cares about the Labor Party.

She cares about Victoria too, but she's mucked it up.And if she really cares about Victoria and the Labor Party, she will not run.

Well, that would be my stance as well.Again, if she puts the party first and she puts Victoria first, she goes, all right, clearly I'm not the preferred candidate, either for Victorians nor for the party.I will stand down.But her arrogance at the moment in threatening to sack her ministry and members of her ministry, I'm not going anywhere.That, to me, reeks of ego.Yeah, of course.

And look, well, ego, self -belief, I don't know, call it what you wish, but there's also a good suggestion she could lose her own seat anyway.So they'll stay around, we'll lose the election, lose the seat, and Ben Carroll becomes Premier anyway.

Is it worth it, Neil, for Labor to go through all this?Should Jacinta Allen just go down with the ship?Is it worth it?Is it really going to make a difference to them if Ben Carroll or Jacinta Allen leads them to the next election?

education.He supports suburban rail link.The word is, and I don't know this for a fact, but the word is he would call the Royal Commission into the big build corruption.He has managed to distance himself a bit.In fact, when Jacinta Allen said a few weeks ago, if you look at the problems we've got with corruption, it's not just big build, it's right through schools and everything else.And he very quickly stood up and says, no, it's not affecting the education buildings, not affecting us.

He's distanced himself.He's also a decent man. he's a man of integrity and and maybe that fresh start can restore some confidence in the integrity of government.

I think that's an important word at the moment given all the corruption when we talk about work sites and the big build and everything they've lost that integrity and maybe Ben Carroll can re -instill it and come up with new policies in the face of Jacinta Allen.So this time tomorrow...

It's not just policies, it's a new face, it's a new face because people don't know him all that well.I repeat, look, I think Jacinda will not push it over the line.I think he'll be Premier this time tomorrow.And I think he will save the furniture, but not the government.

Do you think she concedes today or takes it right up until the caucus meeting tomorrow morning?

Oh no, they'll all be on the phones all night.They won't be sleeping tonight.They won't be sleeping.She won't concede today, I wouldn't think, unless it is genuinely hopeless.Why would you?Go into the caucus, I'm going to fight this out and fight it out in there.

Do you think Jess Wilson and the Libs, the Coalition, are rubbing their hands together today?I mean all the talk has been about infighting with them and...changing leaders.I mean, is this what they need?

I was going to say, if Labor wants any advice on getting rid of a leader, all they could do is go and ask Jess Wilson.But she did a pretty clean job on Brad Batten.This isn't clean.No, it's messy.And it's partly the rules of the party that they introduced after that ridiculous Rudd -Gillard -Rudd carry on and the rest of it.That's why they changed the rules.

And that's what's causing the problem.

So we could have five to six weeks of campaigning for a leader of the Labor Party and then another couple of months of campaigning for who will run the state.Exactly.

You could have five to six weeks of campaign not knowing who's going to...Campaigning for?No, they couldn't let it happen.They couldn't.If it does get to that stage, they can say, well, we've blown up the party and we'll go down in Labor history.

I'll give you the final word, your red hot tip, come this time tomorrow?

It will be Ben Carroll.And Jacinta might even leave on the spot.She might stay around for the election.If she's got any sense, she'd leave on the spot and get a new candidate into Bendigo.She's corn!She's corn!

I always appreciate your time and your expertise.Thanks Shane.

D -Day for Jacinta Allen.I think by tomorrow we will have a new Premier and it will be Ben Carroll.But I think what this shows, and I'm not telling anyone anything they don't already know, is that this state is governed by, and while she is a nice person at a private level, she is not a leader.We are governed by a decade -old stale government that is mired in trying to save itself rather than to make life better for all of us, for every Victorian.And if only If only Jacinta Allen fought as hard for every single one of us as she is doing today to save herself, perhaps we would be in a very different situation.And here's the thing, while the Labor Party runs around like a headless chook all day and all tomorrow,

and all the weeks that have passed and all the weeks in the future, what it is not doing is governing.And what was supposed to happen today was the announcement of this new crime body to fight union corruption on the big build, in part caused by the current Premier and her inability to show leadership when it mattered.Instead, what we have today is a pathetic, paralysed government that is well and truly past its expiry date, no matter who is in charge, be it Ben Carroll or Jacinta Allen.And let me tell you why all of this matters.Because right now in a Melbourne major hospital, a 77 year old man sits with a broken neck after riding his pushbike over a huge pothole.on the Great Ocean Road on Saturday.

He is lying in hospital in a neck brace with a sliced artery and a broken neck, 48 hours after it happened.He's been in emergency and he's now waiting for surgery two days later in agony because our system is broken, our road system and our hospital system.All the while, this government is too busy worrying about saving their own necks than running Victoria.These are the things that matter.the road and hospital system, crime, safety, education, the union still at war with Ben Carroll, mind you, and your money, which has been funneled through criminals and bikie gangs on the big build for years, from taxpayers to the pockets of criminals, and that is corruption.And Ben Carroll?

He supports a Royal Commission.Well, let's see.And are you angry that you don't get to have your say?You don't get to hold what is essentially a referendum on this Premier when she is rolled tomorrow.And a couple of other things, too.When this gang of six went into her office today, she asked them to stand down once they said they no longer had her support.

So that's normal in both federal and state leadership challenges.They've happened before and they'll happen again.And you know what they told her?They basically told her,her to get stuffed.Essentially, they said no.

And I've spoken to numerous Labor insiders today, and they've told me that this particular group of ministers have been wide -ending the Premier for three years, and that the six that walked in, and I quote, are bottom -feeding degraders.So this is what we are saddled with.They said they've destroyed themselves, and they're kidding themselves.So a little later in the program, I'm going to speak to former federal MP Michael Danby.And he told me the premier's decision to hold on to her leadership is a selfish denial of reality.It is a massive about face, though, from Ben Carroll.

I mean, how does he move on from this just a couple of weeks ago?

Are you going to try and get the Premier's job tomorrow?No.Are you going to ask her to step aside?No.Can you look her in the eye and say that?

I can look you in the eye and say that, Premier.I want to serve Jacinta Rowland and I want to make sure...No, look, I've got a young daughter at home and I couldn't be more proud to make sure she grows up knowing that I supported Jacinta Rowland to be a world -class Premier and get re -elected in her own right.

Wow.So do you reckon we're going to get something new tomorrow?And just on the Premier too, she has been quoted numerous times and at length saying, if the Liberal Party can't govern themselves, how can they govern Victoria?So we go back to John Persudo, Brad Batten and then Jess Wilson.Throughout those three leadership challenges with those leaders being rolled and Jess now being the current opposition leader, the Premier was skating in her assessment of the Liberal Party to be in a position to run Victoria.So what do you think today, And it's amazing, isn't it, how quickly politics moves.

Like that was just a couple of weeks ago, Ben Carroll.And I think, you know, as soon as he said that, it was almost like, well, you couldn't really challenge her now because you've brought your own family into it, which I think is a really rookie move.But here we are today.Because if we have a Royal Commission watch, Ben Carroll will throw everyone under the bus to give himself.a clean slate.I was surprised though, I didn't think that this would happen.

And did you want that opportunity now, I guess, to go to an election in a couple of months and say, Jacinta Allen, under your leadership, this is how I feel about the state of Victoria.And if you are a regular Labor voter, does it mean, did you see yourself as someone who couldn't vote for her, but you could vote for Ben Carroll?And let me tell you a little bit about what plays out.So I would expect over the next 24 hours, the Premier will step aside.But if she doesn't, this is what happens, right?And this is what's so amazing about the Labor Party process.

So there will be a four -week ballot of party members and then they'll have to put an interim leader in.So it won't be Jacinta Allen, it won't be Ben Carroll, it'll have to be someone else who's not running.And so for the Premier to hold on now in the dying days of her government and not put Victorians first, Like, what do you think?Are you surprised by any of this?And I think the problem with Jacinta Allen is despite being Daniel Andrews' heir apparent for many years, she never really understood what it takes to be a leader.And I think that's how we've gotten into this space now.

It's like, it's so sort of reactionary, like example, crime, the crime body that was supposed to be established today.Well, on that, that business of government, the business of moving on with Victoria grinds to a halt now while they all sit there and moan and infight and try to come to some sort of understanding.So do you think this will make any difference whatsoever?And for Ben Carroll, I can see why he has finally seized his opportunity because he's from, I mean, this is a bit inside baseball, but because he's from the right it.his one and only chance to be Premier of Victoria because they always pick from the left now, Ben Carroll can come out and say, okay.Clean slate, we're going to do a Royal Commission.

But what will it drag up?It will drag up all the things that the government has worked so hard to hide.Like I was looking at The Age on Saturday.It was a Saturday Age and they did a big thing about the suburban rail loop.And we were going to talk about that today, but time has obviously moved on, right?But one of the things that The Age was talking about was how the suburban rail loop documents that they managed to get their hands on.

Well, they had to go to VCAT.They had to go through the court process through FOI and spend countless, probably hundreds of thousands of dollars if not tens of thousands of dollars or more on lawyers to get those documents.And that's because the government doesn't want you to know what's in them.And that's just one example.of how old and stale this government is.So Ben Carroll can come in and say, well, I've said repeatedly I wanted to give IBAC more powers.

I've said I'm open to a royal commission.So all of these things, they change.And then he can say, well, union corruption, I wasn't a part of that.But at the end of the day, you also have to remember, he is still the deputy premier.So he still sits at the cabinet table when these decisions are made.So what did he say?

Did he fight against those decisions?Did he say, hey, we should have given the IBAC more powers to investigate Union corruption years ago.I want to know all those questions if he becomes leader.How much did he push against any of these appalling decisions by this government, and what's his view now on working from home, on the legally mandated right to work from home?Ben Carroll will consistently be able to say,well I said it cabinet I didn't support that but I was overruled or I've changed my mind.

So what do you think?Do you think this actually makes a difference?He sort of gets this clean slate.And in a way, I can't think of a leader, even Daniel Andrews, for all his faults, many and varied, he still ruled with an iron fist.And this would never have gotten to this point under an Andrews government, like him or hate him.And that was the problem with this premier from the beginning.

She swang with the wind too much.

On the line now, as I said, is Michael Danby.He's a former federal Labor MP.He was the member for Melbourne Ports.from 1998 to 2019 before he was rolled.Michael, good afternoon.

Hi, Jackie, how are you?I wasn't rolled, I actually retired, but seven terms is enough for anyone.

That is definitely enough.Hey, what do you make of today?Did you expect it?Was it unexpected when you first saw the statement this morning from the Deputy Premier and indeed the Premier's statement herself?

Well, I've just heard from state members that they've been out door knocking and that Jacinta's brand is absolutely toxic.I think the age slogan, the ghetto text, finally had a sort of summary for all of the feelings of the public about her that has precipitated this.And I think it's, for Ben Carroll, it's too little too late, but it's an extremely selfish act to sort of call on a ballast.Remember what happened with Rudd and Gillard.When Gillard was unpopular, Rudd argued that they had to put him back in order to save the furniture.And I think this is why some of the socialists left will vote for Ben Carroll, who's in the right, but they'll vote for him out of a conflict of disloyalties, because they want to save their own seats, which they figure, if Jacinta stays there, will be lost.

I think you're right that probably in a day or two she'll be gone.realise that causing this ballot issue she's entitled to will make her reputation even worse.So, you know, it could happen, but if she does, she'll be thought of in the Labour Party as a Moira Deeming on steroids.

You think so.So how would you describe her actions today as the leader of this state when the challenge was issued?

Well, from a personal point of view, Jacinta, it's unrealistic.You're not going to win.And even if you do, you're going to cause yourself such damage, you could never win the election.Best to take Thomas Cromwell's advice to the parliament and just go.go gracefully, hand it over to Ben Carroll, cause no ballast, but it's a poison chalice for Carroll.He's from the moderate section of the party, but I think that the brand's been done irreparable harm by this, as the age calls it, the ghetto tax.

And I think the huge expenditures on this railway from nowhere to nowhere has It made people furious too and the fact that we're going to end up being, you know, the micro example is what you talked about, the terrible incident with that poor fellow in Geelong and the pothole.But it's the $200 billion debt, we can't fix anything.Even if we wanted to employ more police to fight these machete gangs, unless you've got tougher magistrates, we're not going to be able to do it.all been let too little too late.I still see the Liberals as winning, probably with some One Nation assistance.Ben Carroll's only hope would be that he might save more of the furniture, and there is a real

worst case scenario, Jackie, and that is what if he loses a huge number, say 12, 13, 14, and needs the Green Party to survive?Do you think that he'll stick to his promise of not going into coalition with the Greens?

No, I would not think that.I think any politician, whether they be Labor or Liberal, will do anything, just as we would expect the Liberals to get into bed with One Nation at the death knell, I think, Michael.But how would you describe the Labor brand in Victoria today?Would anyone who is thinking of voting for Labor, will Ben Carroll actually change their mind?

No, but look, the people who have been out door knocking in their electorates and holding street stalls have just found that people are angry about Jacinta Allen personally, and that taking a bit of the poison out might save a 12 % seat in Julian Hill's federal electorate.They might only lose 10%.And surviving by 2 % or surviving at all, for one of the many socialist left MPs whose seats are in jeopardy is everything to them.So the brand is toxic, the problems seem intractable.I don't know what the Liberals are going to do if they're elected even in conjunction with One Nation because the debt is so immense.I think we're going to have to go federal and get a federal government to relieve Victorians.

It's going to be very unpopular all around Australia when that happens.

What do federal Labor people say about this government, this Allen Labor government here in Victoria?

Oh, they just think they're a bunch of incompetents and nobodies.Jacinta Allen is quite close to the Prime Minister and obviously is a progeny of herpredecessor Dan Andrews.I think they both make a mistake of aligning the state too much in its infrastructure projects with China.I noticed that Dan Andrews was with Oh, he was up in Sydney.

I saw that.

He can easily get in there easier than he can into a golf club.

It's not overly popular on the driving range at the moment, Michael.Hey, thank you.Appreciate your time today.That is Michael Damby.He is a former Federal Labor MP.So I just mentioned this before the news and I really do appreciate his time.

So Nick McKenzie has just broken yet another story.So I'll let him tell you.Nick, as always, thank you for coming on.And really, how many smoking guns do you need to uncover, I guess is my first question.

Well, there's been plenty of damning evidence, but this is the smoking gun.This is a report we've uncovered, written by four of Victoria's most senior transport and infrastructure officials, June 2023.That date's important.It's one over by corrupt CFMEU officials, barky gangland figures.A year before that, or even over a year, just over a year, these four top public servants wrote to the then minister, transport minister, and said, the union is taking over the big build, there's a huge amount of lawlessness, There's allegations of barky infiltration.There's subcontractors and people being put on sites that shouldn't be there.

WorkSafe Victoria, the regulator's not operating as it should.The police need to be called in, and the cost of this could be huge.Now, who was the minister?That was Jacinta Allen, a year before the scandal broke.For two years, the last two years, been pressing the Premier to explain exactly what she knew about what happened on her big build.This document seems to lay it all out, a hook, line and sinker.

And it shows, I think, that at the very least the Labor government and its bureaucrats knew a hell of a lot of what was going wrong on the Big Build a year before the public did and did nothing about it.And that's not to say those public servants, they tried, they've put it into writing, they no doubt briefed Jacinta Allen at the time about what was going on.What we don't know is why nothing happened, why the lack of action.why the lack of response.What we do know, what this document shows, is these public servants, Jacinta Allen's top advisors certainly knew just how bad it was and did all they could to tell her to stop it.

And so she knew, she had that document, she saw that document?

Her spokesperson this afternoon said that she did not read the document and to say so is a lie.However, if four of her top advisors have written a document addressed to her, Yes, her signature is not on it, but of course it would have informed verbal briefings.It has been confirmed to us that she was verbally briefed by some of these same officials.Of course the Minister knew what was in the document, the Minister being Miss Allen, now our Premier, and to suggest otherwise is bordering on utterly deceitful.The real question here is why hasn't the Premier told Victorians that this was known a year before the scandal blew up?It was known as far back as 2023 June.

We need to know why it wasn't acted on.Was it because of union pressure?Was it because of law enforcement inadequacy?Was it because of some sort of corrupt dealings that we're still not aware of?These are all questions we could have been asking, but we didn't know about this document until now.And of course, they're the sort of questions I think the Royal Commission, if one was ever called in this day, would be asking.

And the Royal Commission obviously at the centre of today's developments with the Premier and Ben Carroll deciding that he would run for the top job.So did you go to her office?today or was it yesterday?Like, I just wonder how much of this plays into what's occurred today.

We only got this document.We've been chasing it for many months.We only got it today.You might ask the question, why has the age got its hands on this document?Well, people want the truth to come out.That's the simple fact of the matter.

And I think without revealing anything to do with sources, people are sick.of the obfuscation of the Premier, the failure to simply tell the public the whole truth about what's going on on the big build, Kira Perry's relationship with the lawless CFMEU and its relationship with gangland figures like Mick Gatto and bikey gangs.This is the biggest scandal the state arguably has ever seen, but certainly in recent times.Again, this document, it's a smoking gun document, it shows at the very least the Labour government knew a hell of a lot was going wrong on the big build years ago now and not enough was done to stop it.And I think this is why people say a Royal Commission is needed, because we need to know why it was that the union wasn't taken on, why it was the CFMEU was allowed to retain its all -powerful position on the big build.In those months after this document was written in June 2023, more and more bikeys appeared on these projects.

Gangland figures like Nick Gatto kept filling their pockets because they were on the payroll of big build subcontractors.This could have been stopped and it wasn't.

As always, extraordinary, and thank you.You really are brilliant.Nick McKenzie is the award -winning journalist from The Age, and I suggest you, if you're at your computer now or on your phone, have a look at theage .com .au.The reporting is, again, second to none.

The detail he's got here, and I appreciate him as always.He always makes himself available for me.This is what we're talking about, the smoking gun.He goes to her office this afternoon or this morning and says, this is what it takes toAnd yet the gaslighting, like that's what he's talking about there.The gaslighting of all Victorians to say, she didn't know, she didn't know.

And he's saying, well, somebody knew.