July 13, 2026 — 5:00amA high-ranking project manager on several key Labor Big Build projects used his position to promote a new workwear company headed by his wife that he part-owned via a family trust, sparking fresh calls for the Allan government to call a royal commission into the mega infrastructure scheme.In what an anti-corruption and transparency expert described as a potentially blatant conflict of interest, Mathew Quinlan, a general superintendent on Big Build sites, encouraged subcontractors on government worksites to use a firm called Salus Workwear – without revealing he owned half the company.Mathew Quinlan admitted to promoting his wife’s workwear company while he worked as a superintendent on Big Build job sites.LinkedIn/Matt DavidsonSalus has supplied dozens of Big Build subcontractors on select rail and road projects between its founding in 2022 and 2026, when Quinlan left his role with international construction giant and Big Build contractor Laing O’Rourke.Three Big Build subcontractors, speaking anonymously due to concerns about repercussions, told this masthead that they purchased Salus products after Quinlan suggested they do so. Two of the firms said they complied to win his favour as a general superintendent who could impact how much work they won on government sites.While Quinlan has denied wrongdoing, Laing O’Rourke has now ordered an internal “review” into the arrangements, becoming the latest Big Build player to respond to allegations of potential wrongdoing unearthed by the media amid the Allan government’s claims of an effective clean-up.Quinlan’s promotion of Salus is just one example of alleged conflicts of interest, favouritism and preferential treatment that this masthead’s investigation can reveal have spread across the Big Build. But almost none of the suspected wrongdoing has been independently probed because it does not reach the threshold of a police investigation and Premier Jacinta Allan’s dismissal of growing calls for a royal commission or an immediate expansion of the powers of the state’s anti-graft watchdog IBAC.Salus Workwear’s director Clare Quinlan (centre) with Epping Road Upgrade workers, who she supplied workwear to.LinkedInThe instances of suspected wrongdoing unearthed by this masthead include another Big Build superintendent moonlighting as the business development manager of a privately owned civil works company that supplies government sites.In other examples, corporate filings reveal a supervisor has launched an infrastructure company with the owner of a subcontractor he previously hired on his sites, while superintendents from several of the largest contracting companies have, according to multiple project sources, received free flights or expensive gifts from subcontractors in breach of rules.Police are unable to probe such dealings because they involve no criminal conduct, but they are another part of the suspected wrongdoing the Allan government refuses to examine with an independent inquiry, but which Australia’s leading anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International, says must be scrutinised with a royal commission.Last week, Detective Superintendent Dave Cowan said he suspected the cost to taxpayers of dodgy deals involving Big Build labour hire firms supplying unnecessary traffic managers was “significant” but outside the remit of police.Complaints about conflicts of interest on the Big Build are longstanding. Leaked letters also show that in January 2024, the Australian Workers Union lodged a formal and “serious” probity complaint with the Allan government about one of its most senior Big Build public servants leaving his government role for a management position with a Big Build subcontractor.The government dismissed the concerns in March 2024, saying an internal “assessment” had raised no concerns.As a general superintendent, Quinlan wielded significant influence over subcontractors on projects he oversaw, which included rail and road upgrades in Melbourne’s south-east and the SRL.Quinlan confirmed that he did “pass on details” of Salus Workwear to Big Build subcontractors because the company supplied quality, good-value products but initially flatly denied he was a shareholder in the company.When told that corporate records showed he was a 50 per cent shareholder in Salus via his family trust, with his wife holding the remainder, he still maintained he wasn’t an “owner of the business”.Asked if he declared his family’s interest in Salus to Laing O’Rourke, Quinlan said: “They knew well and truly, yeah, that she had the business”.Laing O’Rourke said the firm had “not received a conflict of interest [declaration] from Mathew Quinlan or Salus Workwear”.“We are currently reviewing the matters you have raised, and no findings have been made at this stage,” the company said in a statement.“Laing O’Rourke has a global code of conduct and established policies requiring employees to declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest through our secure reporting platform.”Asked if he believed that suggesting Big Build subcontractors he oversaw on projects use a company his family owned to buy workwear was a conflict of interest, Quinlan said: “Not really.”Quinlan resigned from Laing O’Rourke early this year to launch his own company supplying services to the Big Build and other civil infrastructure projects.Before his three-year stint on the Big Build at Laing O’Rourke, Quinlan worked for another major contractor on government projects, McConnell Dowell.It is not clear whether Quinlan promoted Salus during this time, and McConnell Dowell did not answer when asked if Quinlan declared any conflict of interest.“All supplier agreements at McConnell Dowell are subject to robust procurement processes that ensure all suppliers are selected appropriately and on merit,” a spokesperson said.“The employee in question has not worked with our company for more than three years and during his employment, we are not aware of any complaints in regards to his conduct.”The owner of one subcontractor said that Quinlan suggested his firm, along with many other subcontractors, use Salus to supply their workwear.A second subcontractor said Quinlan suggested his firm use Salus, and he did so to win favour from the then general superintendent.ASIC records show Salus Workwear’s sole shareholder is Quinlan Family Holdings Pty Ltd, which is directed by Mathew Quinlan and its shareholding is split 50-50 between Mathew and Clare.Social media posts show Salus Workwear produced clothing for at least 55 construction-related firms, including Women in Construction and several other labour hire firms who won Big Build jobs but were later tarnished by links to the CFMEU and payments made to Mick Gatto.Transparency International’s Australian chief executive, Clancy Moore, said that the Salus conflict of interest allegations added “to the merry-go-round of scandals that have plagued the Allan government’s Big Build”.Moore said the case involved the risk of an “abuse of entrusted power for private gain” on taxpayer projects and was one of the many issues that needed to be probed immediately by an independent royal commission-style inquiry.Speaking generally on the industry’s issues, Moore said the Allan government had failed to ensure the investigation of conduct that did not constitute a criminal offence but still involved a conflict of interest, favouritism or undue influence.“The superintendent role on a building site has significant authority over day-to-day operations, such as managing contractors, and a conflict of interest arises where their role is involved in making decisions around subcontractors and suppliers that might benefit them financially,” he said.“Perceived or actual preferential treatment, favouritism or encouragement to use particular subcontractors can also increase costs, waste public money and risk health and safety.”Clare Quinlan, who directs Salus Workwear, declined to comment at length when asked about how her husband promoted her company while he was a Big Build superintendent.“I don’t know anything, and I don’t just want to be part of it. Is that OK?” she said before hanging up.A state government spokesperson said: “This is a matter for the contractor.”Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.From our partners