Metro Tunnel inquiry reveals workers falsified timesheets in scam to boost pay

Rail workers on Victoria’s Metro Tunnel project tampered with their timesheets to boost their pay, the national safety regulator has found.

Rail workers falsified timesheets to boost their pay while on the $14bn Metro Tunnel project, the national safety regulator has found.

Evidence of Big Build fraud was ­uncovered during an ­­­­in­vestigation into “ghost shifts” and other alleged multimillion-dollar rorts on Victorian building sites revealed by the Herald Sun last year.

The Big Build was rocked by the allegations, detailed by whistleblowers, which included construction firms being billed for shifts that workers did not fill or never completed.

Rail safety workers provided by labour hire company Morson International were also ­alleged to have acted in roles for which they were unqualified to fill, sparking fears that the scam could have turned deadly.

Evidence of Big Build fraud was uncovered during a probe into ‘ghost shifts’ on Victorian building sites revealed by the Herald Sun last year.

The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, Metro Trains, and Metro Tunnel builder John Holland all launched probes once the bombshell revelations were published.

The ONRSR investigation, which was specifically looking into allegations relating to ­labour Morson International provided and “potentially ­unsafe working practices”, has now been finalised. It found timesheets were rorted.

But it says underqualified workers were not on “live” networks.

“The ONRSR investigation has found no substantiated evidence of breaches of Rail Safety National Law that presented ‘live’ rail safety risks,” a spokesman said.

“The investigations did identify instances of rail safety workers acting above their qualification level between January 31 and March 2, 2023.

“However, it should be noted that all available evidence points to these instances relating only to the falsification of timesheets for financial ­reward.”

Metro Trains and John Holland are yet to release any findings from their investigations. Picture: Craig Hughes

Metro Trains and John Holland are yet to release any findings from their investigations, which could lead to legal action aimed at companies or individuals who orchestrated the ­apparent scams.

Spokesmen for the two companies said they had no ­updates to provide.

The ONRSR said since it began investigating, Rail Industry Worker access had been blocked “for a significant number of staff”.

“While the allegations ­related to rail networks that were not ‘live’ at the time, ONRSR remains concerned by any allegations of this nature,” the spokesman said.

“While the findings to date and actions taken have allowed for the closure of the formal ­investigation, the projects have been, and remain subject to, a rolling program of random ­audits and inspections – all of which to date have yielded positive results.”

On Monday, Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas on Monday called the falsified timesheets “completely inappropriate” but couldn’t provide a figure for how much taxpayers had been ripped off.

“I think it’s important to be clear that when this first came to light, both Metro Trains Melbourne and John Holland took appropriate action,” she said.

“The contractor that was involved is was stood down and it’s no longer part of the project.”

Ms Thomas said allegations of dodgy practices on government projects are taken “very, very seriously” by the Allan government.

She was unable to provide any details about whether practices had been put in place to prevent similar rorts occurring.

“As a government we work hard every day to drive best value for Victorian taxpayers from the incredible projects that we are delivering,” she said.