EXCLUSIVE
Bribery, dirty deals rife in building industry
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Ben Schneiders Union endorsement is all but essential for labour hire, traffic management, scaffolding and crane companies to be engaged on large projects by major building companies and developers.
ASIC to quiz Leighton witnesses over bribery accusations
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Australia's corporate watchdog is preparing to use its Star Chamber powers to quiz witnesses and suspects over possible corporate offences arising from allegations that Leighton Holdings paid multimillion-dollar bribes to win contracts overseas.
Secret report flags union ban
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and James Massola Law enforcement agencies in NSW and Victoria have evidence that CFMEU officials have been given kickbacks, amid revelations that the federal government's building industry watchdog has flagged the possible deregistration of the union in a secret report.
Napthine government launches probe into Office of Living Victoria media leaks
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie, Richard Willingham The Victorian government has launched an investigation into the sources of media leaks about the hiring and spending practices at its controversial new water agency.
Ombudsman stirs up state water agency
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie The Victorian Ombudsman has questioned staff and seized files from the state's new water agency as part of an investigation into multimillion-dollar taxpayer-funded contracts awarded without public tender to former National Party advisers, retired public servants and other consultants.
Water minister drawn into controversy
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Water Minister Peter Walsh has been drawn into the financial controversy surrounding Victoria's new water agency after his office made a mysterious payment to a consultant 12 months before it chose him to lead the organisation without advertising the job.
Bikie gangs muscle in on car wash businesses
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Cameron Houston Outlaw motorcycle gangs have gained a foothold in Melbourne's lucrative car wash business after establishing a strong presence in the security, tattoo, brothel and debt collection industries.
Budget under spotlight as delays hit Living Ballarat water project
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie The Victorian government's flagship water cycle management project in Ballarat is running months behind schedule, amid claims a large portion of its $1 million budget has been directed to the Office of Living Victoria's chief scientist and other consultants.
Crime figure hired Labor power-broker Graham Richardson to lobby developers
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, James Massola and Nick Ralston Crime figure and allegedly corrupt building company owner George Alex hired Labor power-broker Graham Richardson to help lobby developers and secure building contracts in the mid 2000s.
Construction union whistleblowers warned not to co-operate with corruption investigators
Nick McKenzie, James Massola and Richard Baker Building union corruption whistleblowers threatened, warned not to co-operate with investigations into alleged criminal activity as federal government prepares to launch national police taskforce to examine construction sector.
Building
Leighton rife with corruption: claims
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Corruption and cover-ups in Leighton Holdings' international construction empire were rife and known to top company executives and directors, according to internal company files.
CFMEU organiser arrested for trespass
James Massola, Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Victoria Police have arrested a Victorian CFMEU organiser for trespass at a Footscray site earlier today.
Coalition water consultants Peter Coombes and Simon Want given top jobs in the Office of Living Victoria
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Consultants hired by the Coalition in 2011 to develop its water policies have been appointed to highly paid public-service positions without the jobs being advertised.
Former police union boss Paul Mullet alleged to be in plot to take control
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Controversial former Police Association chief Paul Mullett secretly backed a new plot to control the powerful police union, according to a submission prepared for the royal commission into union misconduct.
Triguboff company faced extortion attempt
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Nick Ralston Disputed building industry debt involving development company owned by billionaire sparks attempted multimillion-dollar extortion by underworld figures and violence between warring gangland factions.
Another top union official forced out
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Another Victorian building union official has been forced out over corruption concerns at a state government site, as his state secretary, John Setka, on Wednesday night rejected an allegation that he received free work on his home.
Union veteran received death threats
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and James Massola A building union stalwart says he received death threats after he tried to stop his union's dealings with a Sydney crime figure, as mounting revelations see Prime Minister Tony Abbott poised to announce a royal commission on union corruption.
Chinese's scientist absence exposed alleged spying activities at CSIRO
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie A CSIRO scientist's failure to show up for work led Australia's top scientific organisation to uncover a suspected spy in its ranks.
Espionage fears at CSIRO
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie Australian intelligence and security agencies are investigating a suspected industrial espionage case at the CSIRO, the nation's top scientific organisation.
Exclusive
New Leighton links to Iraq payments
Nick McKenzie & Richard Baker Damning evidence linking Leighton Holdings to allegedly corrupt payments has emerged in a court case that reveals how Leighton agreed to pay ''not less than $25 million in marketing fees'' to a Monaco firm to help win Iraq government projects, even though the projects required no marketing.
RBA's illegal bid for Saddam deal
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker The Reserve Bank used a ''frontman'' to secretly liaise with Saddam Hussein's brother-in-law and bodyguard in an illegal effort to sell plastic banknotes to the dictator at the height of UN sanctions, according to confidential RBA files.
Global criminal suspected despite protection
Nick McKenzie, Nino Bucci and Richard Baker World's biggest match-fixer suspected of masterminding the rigging of professional soccer matches in Victoria Premier League while under police protection in Europe.
AFL
Heart tests worried Dons
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Ten months after Essendon doctor Bruce Reid wrote to James Hird to express concern about player injections, the club's medical staff again complained in writing of ''picking up the pieces of something that was running out of control''.
Immigration probes Helen Liu marriage
Businesswoman Helen Liu - a Labor Party donor and benefactor to federal MP Joel Fitzgibbon - faces possible prosecution after the Immigration Department re-opened a probe into her alleged migration fraud.
Police seek to extradite middlemen
Nino Bucci, Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Adam Cooper Police are working to extradite overseas members of a multimillion-dollar match-fixing syndicate.
Church lobby in win over charities watchdog
ROYCE MILLAR Tony Abbott intends to abolish body monitoring the billions received by charities each year.
Ice use devastating rural Victoria
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Rampant methamphetamine use is devastating regional towns and some of Melbourne's outer suburbs, with senior police describing the drug as the most harmful they've seen.
League accuses Hird of ignoring warnings
Caroline Wilson, Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Essendon coach James Hird ignored an emotional plea from his club doctor, warnings from the AFL and adverse side effects sparked by his own injecting regime.
Bombers injected with mystery substance
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker, Caroline Wilson Essendon club officials have been unable to tell ASADA or their players what drugs some of them were given when they were injected with a substance bought in Mexico by a Melbourne man suffering from muscular dystrophy.
Liberal figures avoid court examination over Phillip Island rezoning
ROYCE MILLAR The Liberal party has averted a potentially damaging pre-election court examination of planning minister Matthew Guy's botched rezoning of farmland on Phillip Island, courtesy of a taxpayer-funded deal to silence the landowner and developer involved.
Probe into leading punter's police link
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker A flamboyant Sydney identity, is under investigation for using police to run secret gambling accounts.
Exlcusive
Police keen to share phone taps
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie The nation's top crime fighter says laws that prevent police sharing telephone intercept information with sporting bodies should be relaxed to expose corruption.
Love of life affirmed in the blessing of the fisherman
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie An act of kindness by a fisherman and his boy stopped Craig McDonnell from tipping himself out of his wheelchair and into the cold waters of Port Phillip Bay.
Accused fraud got visa despite PNG plea
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Australia allowed one of PNG's most wanted men to enter the country on a 457 skilled worker visa despite a PNG government request for him to be barred, diplomatic cables reveal.
AFL
Essendon players given banned drugs
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker EXCLUSIVE Some players given WADA-banned substances under direction of sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Dank urged to check on drug legality
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Dean Robinson privately urged Stephen Dank to 'check out section S0' of the world anti-doping code.
Dons told drug was not legal
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker ASADA investigators have seized documents found inside the Essendon Football Club's headquarters that claim the anti-obesity drug at the centre of the doping inquiry was being used by bodybuilders as a "safe alternative" to banned human growth hormones.
Drug case notes of players secretly passed on
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker A small number of Essendon players were not told that case notes detailing their use of AOD-9604 to treat injuries would be used in a patent application lodged by the company that makes the drug.
AFL
Essendon in 'doctor shopping' to beat ban
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Essendon's 2012 supplements program involved a ploy to circumvent anti-doping rules.
Rape accused wants to change guilty plea
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie A former carer at Yooralla - Victoria's biggest non-government disability service - accused of multiple rapes wants to recant his guilty plea just days before being sentenced.
Airport security worker in drugs probe
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie A Melbourne airport security worker has been questioned by the Australian Federal Police as part of an investigation into alleged drug importations.
Action to stamp out Customs corruption
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Customs officers will be forced to regularly change roles, have federal police officers embedded with them and conduct extra waterfront patrols as part of reforms to fight corruption and infiltration by organised crime.
Bomber woes mount as drug probe widens
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie and Jake Niall Essendon captain and several teammates were used as virtual human ''guinea pigs'' by the club.
Exclusive
The minister, the landowner and the backflip
ROYCE MILLAR The woman behind a contentious housing subdivision proposal at Ventnor on Phillip Island says she received a favourable hearing from Planning Minister Matthew Guy when she briefed him on the scheme.
Confidants key to Assange campaign
Philip Dorling Analysis WikiLeaks' Sarah Harrison may get more than her 15 minutes of fame after she accompanied US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden on a flight to Moscow.
Customs officers' links to bikies
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker EXCLUSIVE Corruption ''denial'' in Australia's customs service enabled crooked officers to exploit security gaps and turn a steroid importing ring into an international drug trafficking business.
Rabbi: Young boys may have consented to sex
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie Man who failed to stop abuse warns that involving police now would 'open a can of worms'.
PNG 'dirty money' trail leads to Australia
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Millions of dollars allegedly corruptly obtained from the PNG government siphoned to Australian banks, confidential banking documents reveal.
Police slammed over probe
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie A Victoria Police investigation into the violent death of a patient at a state-run psychiatric hospital was 'manifestly inadequate'.
Exclusive
AFP failed to probe BHP bribery claims
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Federal police made a 'critical decision' to handball case to corporate regulator, which also ran no probe.
Magistrate faces duck hunt charges
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Senior Victorian magistrate faces criminal charges after allegedly engaging in illegal hunting.
Death prompts VW owners to speak out
Melissa Fyfe, Adam Cooper and David McCowen At least 15 Volkswagen owners have revealed they experienced the same terrifying loss of acceleration that appears to have led to the 2011 death of 32-year-old Melissa Ryan on the Monash Freeway.
Labor backs 'grubby deal' on political donations
Royce Millar, Judith Ireland The Labor caucus has endorsed reforms to the way political parties are funded amid criticism from independent MP Andrew Wilkie that the the government and Coalition have done a "grubby deal" over the changes.
Bikies in standover bid on builder
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker A senior Comanchero and two other members of the outlaw bikie club barged into the family home of one of Australia's leading builders in a suspected standover attempt to force the construction firm owner to pay a disputed debt.
Freak winds may have led to fatal brick wall collapse
Royce Millar, Clay Lucas Mounting evidence of unusually strong winds concentrates police attention on the role of a hoarding bolted onto the brick wall in 2011 to advertise developer Grocon's Swanston Square apartment project.
Labor silent about status of secretive slush fund
Royce Millar and Ben Schneiders Victorian Labor has failed to account for a secretive slush fund that has generated half a million dollars and is controlled exclusively by the party's newest MP, former Australian Workers Union Victorian secretary Cesar Melhem.
Carr cancels 457 visa of PNG's 'most wanted' man
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Foreign Minister uses used special powers to cancel the visa issued to alleged crime boss.
Hunter warned of bird massacre
MELISSA FYFE At least 150 endangered ducks, plus other birds including whistling kites and black swans, killed.
Alleged PNG crime boss on 457 visa wanted over theft of $30m
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker An alleged crime boss wanted in Papua New Guinea over the theft of $30 million has used a 457 visa issued by the Australian government to avoid arrest and prosecution.
Desal builder files first of $1b in claims
Royce Millar, Ben Schneiders Apparent failure of negotiations triggers first of a series of legal actions against taxpayers.
Peptide scandal spreads to racing
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker A Victorian trainer is one of a number of thoroughbred racing figures being investigated over the suspected use of peptides in their horses, including the anti-obesity drug given to some Essendon players.
Probe into town hall bribe claims wound up
Melissa Fyfe, Royce Millar Investigation of bribery claims involving two City of Melbourne councillors after finding no conclusive evidence that the Local Government Act had been breached.
AFL
Blues pair secretly taped chemist
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Two Carlton Football Club officials participated in a secret spying operation targeting the chemist who supplied Essendon's controversial supplement program.
Dealing with Dank
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker The inside story on Melbourne's involvement in the supplements scandal.
EXCLUSIVE
Essendon find bill for banned drug
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Jake Niall Essendon Football Club has discovered in its records an invoice for the banned performance-enhancing supplement Hexarelin.
Italian charity probed on community funds
Royce Millar, Melissa Fyfe Victoria's leading Italian charity facing multiple investigations by federal and state authorities.
Australian soccer's $462,000 gift 'stolen'
Nick McKenzie Richard Baker Age Investigative Unit Former top FIFA official Jack Warner allegedly stole $462,000 the Football Federation of Australia donated to his Caribbean football organisation in 2010, at a time when the FFA was lobbying Mr Warner to back its bid to host the World Cup.
Age reporters won't have to reveal sources
Mark Russell Two Age journalists have won their fight against a magistrate's decision to force them to give evidence in a bribery case that centres on Reserve Bank banknote subsidiary Securency.
Rezoning rejection boosts green wedges
Richard Willingham and Royce Millar Napthine government resists a push by a prominent developer and a local council for rezoning of large swath of ''green wedge'' land.
Banned substances hawked around
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Former Hawthorn star Trent Croad spruiked banned or untested supplements to AFL and A-League clubs, confidential emails reveal.
Hird injected drugs
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Essendon coach James Hird has been accused of injecting a WADA-blacklisted drug in a program where his players were given another substance anti-doping regulators now say should be banned.
'Impulsive' Whitlam a trusted US ally: cables
Philip Dorling Prime minister Gough Whitlam's 'impulsive' style and foreign policy 'hobby horses' caused the United States diplomatic concern.
Emergency: the true state of Victoria's first aid
The company entrusted as the primary provider of emergency medical care for Victoria's professional bushfire fighters has no office, only one full-time employee and a few vehicles in a Werribee paddock.
The wall, and why it collapsed
Royce Millar and Deborah Gough A sign spruiking the latest mega-development for the landmark CUB site on Swanston Street appears to have been a key factor in the collapse of the wall that killed three passers-by last week.
Five journalists facing charges make plea
RICHARD WILLINGHAM Protest comes as five senior reporters face criminal convictions for failing to divulge sources.
Officer keeps job after romancing bikie boss
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Policewoman secretly dated a Hells Angels enforcer while he was on bail for a violent crime.
Bikies infiltrate police
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Victoria Police infiltrated by two leading outlaw bikies: Comanchero president and convicted drug trafficker Amad Malkoun and Toby Mitchell, the Bandidos boss at the centre of the state's bikie war.
Cambodian PM linked to talks
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie BHP mining deal investigated for corruption involved Cambodian PM Hun Sen, cables reveal.
City's voting rules will be reviewed
Melissa Fyfe and Royce Millar An investigation of attempted vote-rigging at last year's poll found them open to abuse.
A scoop for Age investigative duo
The Age’s investigative team has dominated the reporting categories at the Quill Awards.
New charges in banknote bribery case
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie Federal police have charged a ninth former Reserve Bank of Australia banknote executive with foreign bribery offences.
Games metals magic
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie and John Garnaut BHP's lavish Olympic sponsorship campaign was aimed at relatively few people. By Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie and John Garnaut.
Cyber trolls
Punks of our generation, say Facebeef 'trolls'
RICHARD BAKER The teenagers behind the Facebook page known as "Facebeef" have a knack for creating publicity and courting controversy.
Corruption watchdog accused of harassment
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker A top official from Victoria's new anti-corruption commission has quit only weeks into his job after he was accused by a colleague of intimidation and harassment.
Bombshell that ended Ted's rule
Melissa Fyfe and Royce Millar It was late morning on Wednesday when it began to dawn on Ted Baillieu that his time as premier of Victoria may be up.
<strong>EXCLUSIVE</strong>
Minister's $10,000 dinners
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie EXCLUSIVE Matthew Guy approves projects of developers who paid for access.
Corruption watchdog is 'flawed'
Melissa Fyfe and Royce Millar The Baillieu government has constrained state anti-corruption watchdog's powers to investigate complaints, expert reveals.
New evidence challenges cause of Kilmore firestorm
Melissa Fyfe Explosive new evidence has revealed the Bushfires Royal Commission got it wrong on the cause of Black Saturday's deadliest blaze, the Kilmore East fire, which claimed 119 lives and has sparked the state's biggest civil class action.
Coles sets its own squeezier standard
Melissa Fyfe and Royce Millar A push by supermarket giant Coles to reshape Australia's free-range egg market through a dramatic reduction in space for hens has been dealt a blow from two key animal welfare groups.
Federal Liberal hopeful dumped
Royce Millar, Melissa Fyfe Party suffers a blow with the loss of its endorsed candidate for the seat of Isaacs.
Church backflips on predator priest
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne removes priest who sexually preyed on disabled woman.
<font color='#F40909'><b>EXCLUSIVE</b></font>
Unlawful imports: Dockers sponsor fined $3m
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Nutritional supplements supplier prosecuted and fined $3.1 million.
Club link to drug dealer
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie, Cameron Houston A convicted drug trafficker who calls himself Dr Ageless supplied the Essendon Football Club's sacked sports scientist with potentially illegal supplements.
<font color='#F40909'><b>EXCLUSIVE</b></font>
Building regulator boss out the door
Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie Michael Kefford will leave the job amid calls for investigation into his contoversial actions.
'Rip off' body corporate managers stay registered
Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker Managers retaining government registration, even after facing court sanctions.
Councillors tell of Liberal MP's pressure
Royce Millar and Melissa Fyfe Senior councillors in Melbourne's south-east say they were pressured by Liberal MP Inga Peulich to support her son's mayoral bid at the height of frenzied lobbying in November.
Reforms promised to fight graft, crime
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Australian customs services need ''massive reforms'' to confront corruption and organised crime, according to Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare, who has also vowed that officials involved in graft will be ripped ''out by the throat''.
Chief awarded contract to friend's firm
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie EXCLUSIVE Watchdog chief awarded $10m contract to firm part-owned by friend and former associate.
Watchdog hobbled by lack of staff
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker Corruption body borrowing staff, equipment from the agencies it oversees to run major probes.
Faulty fire app triggers anger
MELISSA FYFE The CFA's smartphone application is still malfunctioning, infuriating hundreds of people.
Richard Baker
Richard Baker is an investigative journalist who writes on a broad range of topics including politics, business, sports, crime, corruption and social issues. He has won several of Australia's top journalism awards.
Nick McKenzie
Nick McKenzie has won Australia's highest journalism award, the Walkley, six times for his for exposes on organised crime and corruption. He also writes about politics, sport and social justice issues.
Royce Millar
Royce Millar is an investigative journalist with a special interest in public policy and government decision-making.
