Victoria’s top cop confirms assessment into Labor ‘red shirts’ rort testimony

Victoria’s top cop has confirmed he’s ordered an assessment of IBAC testimony surrounding Labor’s “red shirts” scandal.

Victoria’s top cop has confirmed he has requested an assessment of recent IBAC hearings to determine whether any action needs to be taken on Labor’s red shirts scandal.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton told ABC Radio Victoria Police would determine whether what was said under oath prompted the investigation to be reopened, as requested by the state opposition.

“As a matter of due process, we always take matters seriously,” Mr Patton said.

“We’ll assess it — it’s far from reopening at this stage, but we’ll certainly assess that.”

Mr Patton also confirmed the force would liaise with IBAC to see if they intended to take any action as a result of comments made by former powerbroker Adem Somyurek.

“I’m not ruling (anything) in or anything out,” he added.

When asked if the last police investigation was curtailed by politicians failing to co-operate, Mr Patton said: “We had ample evidence provided to us through a range of other areas. At the end of the day there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove that a crime had been committed. It’s as simple as that”.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton is facing calls to reopen the investigation.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed the state opposition had called on Mr Patton to revisit the rort and interview all accused of misconduct.

It followed “fresh and compelling” claims aired during a corruption probe.

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin, who led the call, said on Wednesday the Labor Party was not above the law.

“Daniel Andrews and Labor continue to take the high moral ground in front of the cameras and tell Victoria they will co-operate with any investigation, however their actions are very different.”

Senior Andrews government minister Martin Pakula refused to say whether he would co-operate with police if an investigation was relaunched.

“I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals about an inquiry that was closed almost three years ago,” he said.

“It’s been investigated more often than the Kennedy assassination.”

The Labor Party rorted $388,000 by using taxpayer-funded electorate officers to campaign ahead of the 2014 election, in a scam exposed by the Herald Sun.

Ombudsman Deborah Glass later found 23 current and former Labor MPs were involved in the dodgy scheme.

MPs later refused to co-operate with a police investigation into the matter, which was closed in 2019.

Senior Andrews government minister Martin Pakula. Picture: Ian Currie

Mr Pakula on Wednesday rejected those claims, stating: “I don’t accept that proposition at all. I think there was co-operation, at the time … there was a suggestion that I hadn’t co-operated with Victoria Police, which was completely untrue, I was never asked to”.

In 2019, Mr Patton, who was then a deputy commissioner, announced the police case had been closed. He said the fraud and extortion squad probe concluded that “those 16 members of parliament have been exonerated.”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed Mr Patton was assessing the opposition’s request.

In evidence under oath to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission on Tuesday, Mr Somyurek labelled the “gold standard” rort a “backdoor way of winning an election … that then gets you the spoils of victory”.

He also said Mr Andrews responded “do you want to win an election or not?” when he raised concerns about the scheme with the then opposition leader in 2014.

Mr Battin said the allegations of the misuse of taxpayers’ money “place the integrity of our system at risk”.

“The red shirts rort investigation must be reopened and all people accused of misconduct or criminal activity must be interviewed and a new brief of evidence presented,” he said.

“This is vital to ensure people can trust the system of parliament and ensure no person or group is above the law or perceived as above the law.”

Daniel Andrews is refusing to answer questions on the rort.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy added: “For years Labor has dodged accountability for its theft and misuse of people’s money. This grubby scheme was wrong. Daniel Andrews must now come clean and tell Victorians the truth”.

On Tuesday, Mr Andrews continued to dodge questions arising from the hearings probing allegations of branch stacking and the misuse of taxpayer-funded resources.

The Premier, who has previously said he has never been involved in branch stacking, again refused to confirm whether he negotiated a peace deal to end the practice in Melbourne’s southeast in the early 2000s, as Mr Somyurek says.

He also refused to comment on Mr Somyurek’s evidence that he raised concerns about the “red shirts” rort.

It comes despite Mr Andrews saying in 2018 that no MPs had raised concerns about the scheme with him.

“We were deeply regretful for what had occurred,” Mr Andrews said on Tuesday.

“We accepted responsibility for it and we move forward but beyond that I really don’t have anything more to add.”

Mr Andrews said he would front the IBAC inquiry if he was called to give evidence, despite refusing to reveal if he had been.

Originally published as Victoria’s top cop confirms assessment into Labor ‘red shirts’ rort testimony