Grog, limos and even doughnuts; Victorian Big Build bosses flash taxpayer credit cards

Victoria’s Big Build senior executives and board members have been forced to repay the cost of alcohol ‘inadvertently’ charged to taxpayer-funded credit cards at two dinners.

Victoria’s Big Build senior executives – responsible for huge infrastructure projects including the Suburban Rail Loop, left, – inadvertently” charged to taxpayer-funded credit cards at two dinners.

Victoria’s Big Build senior executives and board members have been forced to repay the cost of alcohol “inadvertently” charged to taxpayer-funded credit cards at two dinners.

In addition to the boozy meetings, hundreds of credit card statements for Suburban Rail Loop Authority and the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority reveal senior public servants have been flashing their corporate credit cards, racking up thousands of dollars on taxpayers for expenses including limousines during overseas trips.

The SRLA confirmed on Friday that any transactions that may have inadvertently included the purchase of alcohol had been reviewed and reimbursed, including the two “board dinners”.

The Weekend Australian has obtained credit card records showing that on January 19, 2023, $724 was slapped on a taxpayer-funded credit card for a “board dinner” at the RACV Club in Melbourne, and on August 29 the same year $250 was charged to taxpayers for a “board dinner” at the Prince Wine Store. The SRLA confirmed both expenses have been repaid.

The credit card statements for SRLA and VIDA managers reveal taxpayers have been charged for items at Specsavers, Richmond Football Club, Kmart and Harvey Norman.

Dozens of charges for coffee, cafe meals, doughnuts, cup cakes and $1400 “board dinner” at the Bellota Wine Bar were also charged to the cards by the managers of the Big Build projects which are running behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

The North East Tunnel project.

The Weekend Australian has also obtained documents detailing how many staff are working in the “strategic communications and engagement” division of the Suburban Rail Loop Authority.

The documents reveal that as at October 25, 2024, there were 54 public servants working in this support unit for the project which will cost taxpayers at least $125bn to link Cheltenham to Box Hill by train.

Two of these public servants are classified as SES1 which carries a salary of between $199,000 and $257,000, while one is in the SES3 band which means they can earn a taxpayer-funded salary of between $370,000 and $490,000. Fourteen of the “strategic communications” staff are classified as VPS5, meaning they can earn up to $130,000.

The SRL credit card records show that in March 2023 there was a flurry of 16 charges for “overseas car transfers” to Blacklane – which promotes itself as putting “chauffeurs at your finger tips” to allow customers to book “private rides while you’re on the go” – totalling almost $3500, including one trip that cost $688.

Three Blacklane trips in one day, March 16, were charged to the taxpayer-funded credit cards. In the same month, more than $8500 was charged to a credit card to attend an event listed as the Futureplace.tech conference.

The SRLA said car transfers were used as part of overseas travel for senior executives and board members. The SRLA said this related to investment roadshows.

“This engagement with CEOs and board directors of global construction firms delivers significant benefits to taxpayers – with the tunnelling bids ultimately accepted coming in below budget,” the SRLA said, saying a “busy and tight program of meetings, which includes multiple European and Asian cities in a given day”, necessitated cars being on-hand to get participants from one meeting to the next.

The Futuretech transaction was for five staff to attend a Future of Construction summit, the SRLA said.

On April 20, two charges of $240 were racked up on credit cards for what was described as “professional certification” at the Legal Services Board.

Two weeks later, another four credit card charges – each for $240 – were made to cover “professional certification” at the Legal Services Board.

Staff have also attended conferences, with almost $2700 spent on May 9 at the Expotrade Australia conference, and more than $8000 on May 10 to attend another conference.

“We regularly review the use of corporate credit cards to ensure all business-related expenses are appropriate and ensure we’re delivering the project as efficiently as possible,” a SRLA spokesman said.

The SRLA said most of the transactions in 2023 related to expenses associated with printing, venue hire for community consultation and workshops, digital subscriptions and memberships to industry bodies, attendance at conferences, catering for extended meetings/workshops, digital assets to assist community engagement, IT software and training.

VIDA credit card statements reveal that on June 13 last year, a taxpayer-funded credit card was used to spend $1139 at a company called Skiers Edge Pty Ltd.

VIDA said this was to pay for snow chains for a fleet vehicle during restoration of the Bogong High Plains Road.

Other VIDA credit card transactions likely to come under scrutiny included $4000 at Flight Centre on February 28, $1700 at Harvey Norman on January 23, more than $500 at Specsavers on April 5 and $295 at the Richmond Football Club on June 21.

“Corporate credit cards are issued to a small number of staff across a large organisation, with robust processes in place to scrutinise each payment,” a VIDA spokesman said.

VIDA credit cards were used for three charges at the Barwon Valley Golf Club totalling more than $1000. On February 21, $327.50 was charged, on May 29, $357.50 was charged and on September 21, $370 was put on the card. VIDA said this was to pay for venue hire for community engagement meetings.

In January 2023, VIDA managers spent $600 at “mates group of companies”, $179 at Kmart and $49 at Mr Donut. Another $41 was spent at Mr Donut in March, while more than $3000 was spent at a cafe called Fred and Bets in April and May.