Labour Hire Licensing Commissioner steps down after one year of fighting Big Build
A senior official who led the cleanup of Victoria’s scandal-ridden construction industry will step down in August, leaving the state without a key figure in the fight against corruption and worker exploitation in the construction industry.
Labor Hire Licensing Commissioner Steve Dargavel has said he plans to staff staff on the eighth anniversary of his appointment as Victoria’s chief regulator of businesses that supply tens of thousands of temporary workers to construction sites, the agricultural sector, the private security sector and other parts of the state’s economy that rely on mobile labour.
During his tenure, Dargavel made significant gains by investigating and punishing companies that exploited vulnerable migrant workers on farms. He also recently gained national attention for calling out retail giants Coles and Wesfarmers for continuing the exploitation of security guards in the retail industry employed by the now collapsed and disgraced security giant MA Services Group.
But it is Dargavel’s efforts to tackle allegedly unscrupulous temporary labor supply firms in the construction industry that have attracted the most scrutiny, given the suspicion of rampant infiltration by organized crime figures and corrupt CFMEU officials into the operations of labor hire companies that generate hundreds of millions of dollars from the state government’s Big Build.
Over the past 12 months, Dargavel has sought to shut down several firms accused of wrongdoing, prompting fierce legal challenges from the companies but earning particular praise from police forces who individually tackle crime in the construction industry.
Dargavel’s decision to resign was a blow to the state government, leaving him facing an aggressive senior enforcer attacking wrongdoings in an industry that has historically been resistant to clean-up efforts by law enforcement and regulators.
Dargavel’s work has also been repeatedly cited by Prime Minister Jacinta Allan as evidence that her strategy is trying to clean up the government’s signature $100 billion Big Build infrastructure programme.
In his statement, Dargavel praised the work of his inspectors, but pointed out that there was still much to be done to clean up the hired labor sector.
“Our highly skilled staff, with the support of government and agency partners, carried out hundreds of actions and protected thousands of workers from horrific exploitation,” he said.
“With recently strengthened powers and a dedicated team, the authority is well positioned for the important work ahead and I wish the organization continued success.”
Dargavel, a former union leader turned federal Labor politician, was initially viewed by police and other regulators as a political choice by the state Labor Party with little practical experience.
But multiple official sources said Dargavel had won the support of the police and other partner agencies with his fearless and apolitical approach to attacking fake providers.
“He is one of the few regulators actually trying to take on companies that have been operating with impunity for years,” a senior federal official told this imprint.
“The Labor Hiring Authority can only do so much, but Steve has tried to do what he can. “When you tell some regulators about the involvement of cyclists or other criminal elements, they play it out to the police, but [labour hire] authority [under Dargavel] “He’s having an absolute crack.”
In April Dargavel used his agency’s powers to launch an investigation into a bikie gang leader and former influential CFMEU delegate over allegations he ran an unlicensed labor hire company.
Last week Dargavel separately revoked the license of a labor hire company with links to criminals and drug traffickers that had received funding from the Victorian government and secured a major contract for Australia’s largest federal government-backed wind farm.
The revocation of the license came after Daragavel’s investigative team discovered that the firm, called 24-7 Personnel, was secretly run by a violent killer.
The company became the fifth major labor hire firm to be targeted by the regulator after the imprint reported it was profiting from major government infrastructure projects. This imprint revealed two weeks ago that one of the companies said: Women in the Construction Industry, It was ruled for years by men with serious criminal convictions.
The Labor Hiring Authority has moved to revoke Women in Construction’s license but is still diverting millions of dollars supplying workers to the North East Link.
The authority also revoked the licenses of dozens of small labor hire players; but they are mostly not among the dozen or so major operators dividing the Big Build program; These included eight firms with deep links to underworld figures or corrupt CFMEU officials that were exposed in media reports and targeted by the regulator or police.
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Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year three times. The winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he explores politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email.
