The Andrews Labor Government has lost control of the burgeoning salaries of executives and fat cats theoretically in charge of Labor’s botched major projects.
Labor’s projects are almost without exception delayed, botched or massively over budget, yet no-one is responsible. Labor’s Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan won’t take responsibility, nor will her unaccountable fat cats stand up.
The Suburban Rail Loop is a project without a business case and it seems no-one knows how far over $150 billion the costs will run.
When projects are more than $2.7 billion over budget nobody appears accountable (Metro Tunnel).
When a project almost trebles in cost, like the North East Link, who is accountable?
When a project is years behind time and has no solution for toxic tunnel spoil, who is responsible (West Gate Tunnel)?
When projects are billions of dollars over budget, who is responsible (level crossing removals)?
When projects are comprehensively botched, funds run out, and the project is only two-fifths complete, who is responsible (Murry Basin Rail)?
The solution proposed by Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan for their incompetent leadership and mismanagement and the mismanagement of their senior officers is to pay these fat cats hundreds of thousands of dollars more.
What do you have to do to be held accountable as a senior transport infrastructure officer. The recruitment drive by Labor is padding out the ranks of senior executives and rewarding them with massive pay rises.
Recent decisions to award above standard remuneration in the transport infrastructure sector include:
- Suburban Rail Loop Authority CEO ($680,000-$700,000)
- West Gate Tunnel Chief Operating Officer ($450,000)
- West Gate Tunnel General Manager Strategy ($430,000)
- Airport Rail Director of Packages ($385,000)
- Major Transport Infrastructure Authority Director Legal (Program Delivery) at Major Road Projects Victoria ($360,000)
- Chief Engineer Rail Systems Rail Project Victoria ($360,000)
These extraordinary over payments are to executives, supervisors and those involved in oversight, not the actual construction of projects. These overlords don’t actually work on the projects, they visit them, look at them, organise a media opp and issue directions and edicts.
Separately, the major transport infrastructure agency has spent more than $60 million over two-and-a-half years on spin doctors and PR merchants with a workforce of 130 effective full-time spin doctors.
Under Andrews, these executives get their fat overpayments no matter what their performance, how late the project is, or how much taxpayers’ money they squander.
