Daniel Andrews silent on IBAC questioning amid reports draft findings slam Labor culture

Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews has refused to comment on reports that he has been questioned by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog over Labor party culture.

The Age newspaper is reporting Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission [IBAC] questioned Mr Andrews over issues, including branch stacking and misuse of public resources.

In its coverage, the newspaper said IBAC’s draft report found Victorian Labor had an “unethical culture with respect to factional activity” and such behaviour was not limited to factional groups within the party.

Quotes from the report verified by the ABC refer to the behaviour arising “constantly during this investigation.”

“These unethical practices were embedded within the Branch and are systemic to all of the factions,” the draft report said.

“The evidence adduced enables the conclusion that these practices have been approved or condoned by the party leadership for decades.”

The report also stated that Mr Andrews was among a number of Labor MPs who “acknowledged that significant cultural reform is required within the ALP”.

Branch-stacking issues within the party came to light because of the so-called “red shirts” saga, which prompted a joint investigation between IBAC and the Victorian ombudsman.

The investigation, known as Operation Watts, held public hearings as well as a number of private interviews.

Mr Andrews refused to confirm whether he had been questioned and said it would be “grossly inappropriate” for him to comment on a report that had not yet been released.

However, he did confirm that a draft report arising from Operation Watts had been sent to people involved in the investigation.

“This is real, it is detailed, it’s happening, it’s not yet finished. When it is finished, we’ll be able to talk about it,” he said.

“You can be at somewhat of a disadvantage when you’re not prepared to trample all over processes, sometimes that means you’re not in a position to refute things that are plainly wrong.”

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Labor MP Adem Somyurek tweeted that the disclosure of information in IBAC’s draft report was a “denial of procedural fairness”.

“When an integrity body illegally puts media strategy ahead of fact-finding, there is something rotten in the organisation,” he tweeted.

Mr Somyurek also questioned why, if Mr Andrews was questioned by IBAC, it wasn’t done so publicly. 

IBAC would not confirm whether it had interviewed the Premier and said it did not comment on investigations before it.

Former government minister Adem Somyurek was sacked from cabinet over branch-stacking allegations.(AAP: James Ross)

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the allegations were “gravely worrying” and called on the Premier to resign.

“How can you trust Daniel Andrews to fix our state when the corruption watchdog has found Labor is rotten to the core?” he said.

“He should stand down. He has presided over a culture of corruption. He cannot be trusted to fix this mess.”

Mr Somyurek was sacked from cabinet in 2020, after Channel Nine aired allegations he was involved in “industrial-scale” branch stacking.

The upper house MP told an IBAC hearing in November 2021 that he engaged factional operatives as his electorate office staff.

Mr Somyurek said that Mr Andrews dismissed his concerns about Labor’s red-shirts scandal back in 2014, which he described as a “gold-standard rort”.

He said he asked then-opposition leader Mr Andrews about the misuse of electorate staff for political work ahead of the 2014 election, and claimed Mr Andrews was aware of the behaviour. 

“He said words to the effect of … ‘Do you want to win the election or not?'” Mr Somyurek said.

Ombudsman Deborah Glass found in 2018 that Labor had misused $388,000 of public money through the red-shirts arrangement.

Posted 3h ago3 hours agoThu 28 Apr 2022 at 1:01am, updated 2h ago2 hours agoThu 28 Apr 2022 at 2:33am