{
  "id": 19032578,
  "title": "Big Build royal commission LIVE updates: Big Build project, CFMEU under microscope as state’s long-awaited construction royal commission begins",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/big-build-royal-commission-live-updates-big-build-project-cfmeu-under-19032578",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-08T22:33:59.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Age",
    "slug": "the-age",
    "url": "https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/big-build-royal-commission-live-updates-big-build-project-cfmeu-under-microscope-as-state-s-long-awaited-construction-royal-commission-begins-20261109-p61c7n.html?ref=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The first block of public hearings for the Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects in Victoria is scheduled to begin this week. The inquiry is expected to examine the role of former premier Jacinta Allan and her office regarding a controversial road and rail project, according to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.\n\nThe commission follows allegations of corruption, criminal wrongdoing, and serious misconduct surrounding the state's $100 billion Big Build project. ABC News AU reports that allegations involving the criminal infiltration of the CFMEU were first aired by Nine Newspapers in 2024, including claims that criminals acting as union delegates received hundreds of thousands of dollars on government-funded projects.\n\nFollowing the federal government placing parts of the union into administration in August 2024, administrator Geoffrey Watson SC reported that the Victorian branch of the CFMEU had \"collapsed into a squalid mess.\" ABC News AU notes that Watson suggested Victorian taxpayers may have lost as much as $15 billion to organised crime on Big Build projects.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News AU",
        "title": "Victoria's Big Build royal commission explained",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/victorias-big-build-royal-commission-explained",
        "published": "2026-11-08T20:06:58.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Sydney Morning Herald",
        "title": "Big Build royal commission LIVE updates: Big Build project, CFMEU under microscope as state’s long-awaited construction royal commission begins",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/big-build-royal-commission-live-updates-big-build-project-cfmeu-under",
        "published": "2026-11-08T22:33:59.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}