By Benjamin Preiss and Adam Carey & Noel Towell
More than 20 Labor MPs signed off on payments worth nearly $400,000 from taxpayers that went towards political campaigning to win the 2014 election, a damning Ombudsman’s report has found.
The report revealed that the Labor MPs – including 11 serving and 10 former MPs – signed timesheets authorising payments to "field organisers" who helped co-ordinate the election campaign.
Ombudsman Deborah Glass released the report after her years-long investigation into whistleblowers' claims that taxpayer funds were misused on Wednesday.
She found that electorate officers for Labor MPs, who were employed by the Parliament, were diverted to the party's grassroots "red shirts" brigade for the 2014 election campaign.
Ms Glass cited "a well-organised campaign by the ALP to recruit and deploy full-time field organisers in the run-up to the 2014 Victorian state election, of which 21 were employed part-time as electorate officers and paid some $388,000 out of parliamentary funds".
Premier Daniel Andrews said the Victorian branch of the Labor Party had repaid all the money and he was sorry for what happened.
Asked if anyone should lose their job over the scandal, the Premier indicated the answer was "no".
"There were no recommendations of any action to be taken against anyone, that's the Ombudsman's report," he said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the ministers involved should be sacked.
‘‘If you take money from your employer you usually lose your job,’’ he said.
Mr Guy said the premier had not been ‘‘full and frank about what he knew and when’’.
He said Labor members had hindered the investigation so what was known was the tip of the iceberg. Mr Guy said the legal fees should also be paid back.
‘‘Those who have rorted the system must go.’’
Opposition attorney-general John Pesutto said no members of the lower house had participated in the Ombudsman’s investigation.
The report found that former treasurer John Lenders was the “principal architect” of the arrangement and carried the greatest responsibility for breaching standards laid out in a guide for MPs.
Mr Lenders resigned this month as chair of government body VicTrack, saying he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren.
Former Victorian treasurer John Lenders.Credit: Josh Robenstone
Mr Andrews said he could not remember if he met with the campaign field organisers as they were being trained in March 2014, or whether the funding arrangements for the "red shirts" were discussed by the campaign committee.
"I'd have to check my diary," Mr Andrews said in relation to the meeting.
"In the course of a campaign you meet with lots of different people."
Ms Glass found that while the MPs who signed the timesheets derived little personal benefit they "almost invariably benefited the election prospects of other members or candidates".
She said she accepted that the MPs who funded the scheme believed it was legitimate and did so in good faith.
“Regardless of their intentions, however, they were wrong, and their actions breached the members’ guide,” she said.
Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings, who was found to have diverted $20,539 in funds, said he signed the timesheets on a weekly or fortnightly basis for a worker that he deemed was carrying out a normal part of electorate officer work.
He said he would not resign and reforms had already been introduced.
The estimated $387,842 included an "unquantified amount" of electorate officer work that was legitimately done for a small number of MPs.
Whistleblowers claimed hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were used to pay for Labor campaigners called the "red shirts".Credit: Scott Barbour
The Victorian government went all the way to the High Court and spent $1 million in an attempt to stop the investigation.
Mr Jennings wrote to Ms Glass to say her office didn't have the power to investigate, so the matter went to the Supreme Court, which gave the ombudsman the go-ahead. The government tried, and failed, to fight the ruling in the Court of Appeal and High Court.
On Wednesday morning, "red shirts" whistleblower Jake Finnigan told radio station 3AW he had lost friends, been "institutionalised" and forfeited a career in politics after raising concerns about how he was being paid while working in Police Minister Lisa Neville's office.
"I was ostensibly campaigning for the Labor party on a full-time basis while being paid two times a week by the Parliament," he said.
"I wasn't doing any electoral office work. I was based out of Police Minister Lisa Neville's office ... but I was being paid by John Eren's electorate office in Lara.
"I certainly did fill out my timesheets in advance."
Mr Finnigan said he hoped the Ombudsman's report would be "for the greater good of this state".
"I feel this is important, because it finally sets out what politicians can and can't do with taxpayers money and taxpayers resources," he said.
Ms Glass said more needed to be done to rebuild public trust in politicians, which was eroded by stories of misuse of taxpayers’ money.
“Trust in our politicians is declining and diminishes further with allegations of misuse of public funds,” she said.
“The public debate in this case confirms the importance of an independent body able to investigate allegations without fear or favour, when the integrity of MPs is called into question.”
The MPs named in the report who are now frontbench ministers include:
- Jenny Mikakos, Minister for Families, Children and Youth Affairs ($21,148)
- Gavin Jennings, Special Minister of State ($20,539)
- Lily D'Ambrosio, Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change ($5364)
- Martin Pakula, Attorney-General ($5354)
- John Eren, Minister for Tourism and Major Events ($2358)
Other serving MPs in the report include:
- Marsha Thomson ($21,148)
- Nazih Elasmar ($21,148)
- Gayle Tierney ($20,559)
- Adem Somyurek ($15,717)
- Anthony Carbines ($8823)
- Shaun Leane ($2358)
MPs named in the report who are no longer serving include:
- John Lenders ($44,732)
- Elizabeth Beattie ($24,773)
- Margaret Lewis ($24,358)
- John Pandazopoulos ($21,757)
- Jo Helper ($21,148)
- Johan Scheffer ($21,148)
- Candy Broad ($5925)
- Brian Tee ($21,148)
- Matthew Viney ($18,790)
- Lee Tarlamis ($19,931)
with AAP