Gangsters have feasted on the Big Build. It’s time for a real response

July 24, 2026 — 11:40am

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Out of the arson-inspired ashes of Victoria’s crime and corruption crisis, the state government has one last chance to perform the sort of somersault that would win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games we didn’t host.

Having, like most governments, looked for politically convenient answers to practical problems, we have reached a point where daily dodging and weaving is unsustainable.

Even the most stubborn or stupid politician must know there should be a real response to the rampant corruption around the Big Build, where gangsters are feasting as greedily as a pack of hyenas on a dead zebra.

Cabinet is about to consider a police wish list of new powers to tackle organised crime as a circuit breaker to this paper’s nearly daily revelations of kickbacks, extortion and violence connected with the construction industry.

Perhaps the new body could have a crack at dealing with our daily dose of arson involving young offenders, on orders from Iraq-based Australian cartel bosses, torching bars, tobacco shops, cafes and car yards.

The data that destroys the idea that Australians are quitting smoking

Speaking of tobacco, it comes as a relief to learn that, according to a survey by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, smoking rates have dropped to a historic low.

The trouble with a survey is people tell fibs.

According to wastewater testing, nicotine use is on the rise and the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports smoking is up 40 per cent since 2017 and 80 per cent of nicotine now comes from the black market.

And while Border Force reports record seizures of tobacco, the health survey suggests Victorians are giving up smoking, meaning 1400 illicit tobacco shops must be doing a roaring trade in Chupa Chups and Wagon Wheels.

The reality is we appear to be smoking more than Winston Churchill during the Blitz.

But we digress – back to the matter at hand – a new racket-busting crime body.

Let us put aside for the moment that it will be impossible to set up such a body before the November election, as you need legislation, a board, a chair, investigators, lawyers, offices, a list of targets, and intelligence.

We have had many false dawns. New enforcement bodies, such as the Police Complaints Authority, the Office of Police Integrity and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption........

© The Age