The first act of the new premier of Victoria, Ben Carroll, has been to announce a royal commission into the CFMEU and its alleged nefarious activities in relation to Victoria’s massive ‘Big Build’ infrastructure program. Certainly, Victoria has been wracked by scandals and corruption for years now, and a royal commission is the “institution of last resort” to address these problems. Carroll’s actions partly expose the inadequacies of the state’s anti-corruption commission, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC). Let’s remember the achievements of the 1980 Royal Commission into the Activities of the Federated Ship Painters’ and Dockers’ Union – the Costigan royal commission. Certainly, the Costigan royal commission soon confirmed the union’s criminality, involvement in murders and support by hardened criminals, but its focus soon changed.