Matthew Guy’s chief of staff quits over proposal for party donor to pay his company directly

The Victorian government has asked police and integrity bodies to investigate revelations the opposition leader’s chief of staff proposed to ask a Liberal party donor to make more than $100,000 in payments to his business, citing concerns about the compliance of the proposed deal with donation laws.

Mitch Catlin resigned on Tuesday morning, after the Age revealed he had forwarded a proposed contract to the state Liberal leader, Matthew Guy, last year that would have required a donor to pay $8,333 a month to his company, Catchy Media Marketing and Management, for services described as “supporting business interests”.

Guy said he accepted Catlin’s resignation but maintained the contract was “never signed”, “never actioned” and “never formalised”.

“This is not something that happened and stopped – it never progressed. It was considered and never progressed,” he told reporters outside parliament on Tuesday.

“Mitch has offered his resignation, and I’ve accepted it, even though nothing was signed and nothing was agreed to.”

According to the Age, Catlin hired lawyers to draw up a contract for the arrangement then sent it to Guy’s personal email address, asking him to forward to the donor, who was not named.

“Hey MG. Attached is the proposed agreement between [the donor] and Catchy Media Marketing and Management,” Catlin wrote in the email. “It’s as per the original email agreement between you and me.”

The proposed contract reportedly contained a clause saying it would be terminated if Catlin left the role of chief of staff to the opposition leader.

It was drafted at the time Guy returned to the role after toppling Michael O’Brien in a leadership coup.

If the reported arrangement had gone ahead, Catlin’s private business would have begun invoicing the donor from 7 September 2021 – the day of the leadership coup – until the end of this year, totalling more than $140,000.

Guy denied knowing about the proposal at the time.

“Mitch had some personal discussions with a couple of people and beyond that, there was a leadership change … as you can imagine, that was my primary focus,” he said.

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He denied the contract was an attempt to circumvent that state’s strict donation laws, which require donations above $1,050 to be disclosed and limited to $4,210 over four years.

Guy suggested it was under consideration to supplement Catlin’s base salary as chief of staff, which would have been about $140,000 a year, but it was decided it was “not considered transparent enough”.

The state’s minister for government services, Danny Pearson, said Guy had failed to answer several questions about the proposal, including the nature of the agreement, the identity of the donor and whether other similar arrangements are in place.

“Victorians have a right to know what has been occurring in this office,” Pearson said.

He said he would refer the matter to the Australian Federal Police, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac), the Victorian Ombudsman, the Victorian Electoral Commission and Victoria Police for investigation.

Pearson said Guy’s defence that the contract was never signed was not good enough.

“You’ve got to ask yourself, why are these conversations being had in the first place?” he said.

In a statement, Guy described the government’s referrals as a “desperate attempt” from an “arrogant government to distract from its own integrity failings”.

“I look forward to Victoria’s integrity agencies confirming this referral for what it is – an unfounded and desperate political stunt,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, he noted the lack of a legislated code of conduct for parliamentary advisers in the opposition was an “issue that needs resolution”.

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Integrity in government is set to be a central issue at the November state election, with the Coalition and the Greens capitalising on the recent report from Ibac and the ombudsman into Labor’s culture.

Both parties have introduced their own integrity proposals in recent days.

Prior to his stint in politics, Catlin worked in public relations and marketing at Myer, where he worked closely with model Jennifer Hawkins, and was head of brand and communications at Swisse vitamins.

According to the website for his Catchy Media Marketing and Management company, he has represented basketballer Liz Cambage, former swimmer Geoff Huegill and rugby player James O’Connor.

Guardian Australia has made attempts to contact Catlin.