Rail Loop boss commutes from Queensland

The value of flights attributed to Carroll’s “recall to duty” is $3,645 as of 2021. Carroll’s decision to stay in Brisbane has raised eyebrows within the company, given the importance of the rail line, Victoria’s largest infrastructure project.

Age spoke to four government sources who spoke anonymously to avoid repercussions; these sources said it was widely known within the SRLA that Carroll spent a significant portion of his time in Queensland.

“He told stakeholders in meetings that it was FIFO [fly-in, fly-out]said someone.

Opposition major projects spokesman Matthew Guy said the situation was ridiculous.

“The Suburban Rail Loop is just another example of how Big Building is becoming a huge bill for Victorian taxpayers,” he said.

The rail cycle authority and the Allan government have been contacted for comment.

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Touted by the Allan government as Australia’s largest housing project, the Suburban Rail Loop has been heralded as a city-shaping initiative that is vital to preserving the liveability of Melbourne, which is predicted to be a city of around 9 million people by the 2050s.

The first phase of the loop, SRL East, is an underground railway between Cheltenham and Box Hill and is expected to cost $34.5 billion. The northern and western links, if built, would be connected to Melbourne’s existing rail lines via a system called a hub and spoke system.

The areas above each station are marked as mini-CBDs in the suburbs; converted into denser centers for work, housing and educational facilities.

Plans for the first six of these areas are being assessed by a planning panel, with plans for towers up to 25 storeys high in some areas.

Infrastructure Australia questioned the $34.5 billion estimated price tag and recommended new analysis, including an updated cost-benefit ratio.

Of this figure, more than $20 billion is unfunded; Victoria has committed to funding a third itself, another third through development costs and the final third from the Commonwealth.

The Albanian government has donated $2.2 billion so far. Infrastructure Australia has recommended no further commitments be made without more information about the cost of the project and the charges the government plans to use for the cycle.

SRLA’s latest report shows chief executive pay rising from a range of $870,000 to $879,999 in the 2023-24 financial year to between $900,000 and $909,999 in 2024-25, roughly in line with inflation.

Travel records show the rail line authority spent tens of thousands of dollars flying Carroll to Asia and Europe to persuade companies to bid to work on the project.

Trips were organized to Dublin, Rome, Seoul, Paris and London to ensure a “competitive market process” for the early stages of bidding for the SRL East project, which was split into multiple packages, according to the documents.

These visits had the effect of “ultimately getting value for money and achieving the best project results”.

All four international journeys began with flights from Brisbane.

Carroll’s most extensive travel came in 2022, when he spoke to potential bidders for one of the largest SRL East contracts on offer, a “line-wide” package estimated to be worth at least $8 billion to $9 billion. He went to Singapore, South Korea, Ireland, Spain, Austria, France and England.

A year later, he returned to Europe to meet with other companies “who could not accommodate meetings in the compressed calendar at the end of 2022.”

TransitLinX, a group of companies comprising John Holland, RATP Dev, Alstom, KBR and WSP, was the preferred bidder for this contract, which includes the construction of trains used on the underground line, the operation and maintenance of the network and the equipping of tunnels.

Recently, Carroll traveled to London and Dublin to meet with global insurance agents to discuss the scope of the project.

A Suburban Rail Loop Authority spokesperson said: “The Suburban Rail Loop will shorten travel times and reduce congestion for busy families while delivering 70,000 more homes within walking distance of jobs, healthcare, green open space and Australia’s largest universities.

“Mr Carroll’s primary residence is in Melbourne and he travels at his own expense to see his family on weekends.

“As we begin to deliver one of Victoria’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects, it is crucial to engage directly with leading global construction companies, suppliers and operators to secure the specialist expertise needed to build this city-shaping project.”

Originally from Ireland, Carroll moved to Brisbane in 2004 and has held a number of senior government roles, including chief executive of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and chief executive of the state’s Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.

He became Queensland’s treasurer in 2019 but left the job in 2020 following the resignation of the state’s former deputy premier Jackie Trad and allegations that he interfered with her appointment.

The Crime and Corruption Commission’s report on recruitment, published this year, found no negative findings against Carroll, but criticized Trad’s “aggressive” advocacy for his appointment. He denied the accusations in the report, and no investigation was conducted into the saga.