Melton voters need new MP

DON Nardella compounds his own disgrace each day he draws a taxpayer-funded pay cheque.

DON Nardella compounds his own disgrace each day he draws a taxpayer-funded pay cheque.

The full extent of the shamed state member for Melton’s greed was revealed in parliament on Tuesday. It was even worse than we first thought.

A preliminary report to the parliamentary audit committee says Mr Nardella claimed for the past seven years a generous allowance meant for country MPs. The total amount under serious question is about $200,000.

The report has raised questions about whether he was living in his Ocean Grove residence simply for financial gain at the expense of Victorians’ hip pockets.

Former Speaker Telmo Languiller, who represents the western suburbs seat of Tarneit, was also in the report’s sights.

Don Nardella does not deserve a seat in parliament. Picture: Jason Edwards

He resigned from his position for claiming the allowance, which is supposed to be for regional MPs who need to travel to parliament.

Mr Languiller agreed early to pay back the almost $40,000 he had claimed after he told parliament he had for a year lived in Queenscliff and maintained a second property in Footscray.

This partially salves his hurt to the community, but it will still be hard to forget.

It has been revealed today that the Labor veteran, Mr Nardella, who has long talked up the need for strict parliamentary standards, has been claiming his lucrative second residence allowance for living in the country since March 2010.

Mr Nardella was booted from the ALP on the back of the revelations.

His steadfast refusal to pay back the amount has particularly rankled his parliamentary colleagues and the electorate.

His decision to live in Ocean Grove and claim for a second property in Mordialloc since 2014 was dodgy at best.

There should be further investigation into whether his behaviour breached more than just a moral code.

Premier Daniel Andrews sought to distance himself from Mr Nardella by throwing him from the party. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Parliament must surely send this to the privileges committee immediately to establish whether and, if so, what punishment is appropriate. The Labor Government should ensure this occurs, even at the expense of investigating its own.

Regardless, Mr Nardella must go from state parliament. He does not deserve a seat in the house.

The electorate of Melton needs a chance to chose someone — from whichever persuasion of politics — who will not use their privileged position to rip off the system.

Premier Dan Andrews sought to distance himself from Mr Nardella by throwing him from the party.

But it is likely that Mr Nardella will still support the government on legislation, even from the crossbenches. He has been in the ALP for 25 years and is not likely to switch his sentimental affiliation from Labor. This means Mr Andrews will be using Mr Nardella’s “tainted vote” to have its laws passed.

It is a situation not unlike when ex-Liberal Geoff Shaw fell from grace over entitlements in 2014.

Then, parliament’s privileges committee found Mr Shaw misused his taxpayer-funded car to run his hardware business.

It is little wonder voters have lost confidence in the political class.

Mr Nardella must leave parliament and a by-election should be held in Melton.

By-elections are expensive, but any money spent would be worth it to help restore the integrity of our parliamentary system.

The vibe from the past week suggests there might be light at the end of the Malcolm Turnbull tunnel. Picture: Kym Smith

PM’S OUTLOOK LESS GRIM

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition party room have improved the veracity of the nation’s Racial Discrimination Act through a change to Section 18C.

The Coalition on Tuesday backed proposed changes, which retain the offence of “intimidate” on the basis of race, but replace the words “insult”, “humiliate” and “offend” with “harass”.

This planned change lifts the bar appropriately in the definition of what constitutes racial discrimination. Importantly, the changes still protect and preserve the intent of this part of the Bill, which was introduced in 1995.

Of equal importance is that Mr Turnbull has finally been able to resolve a destabilising dispute within his side of politics.

It had become a serious internal problem. The resolution satisfies the conservatives and yet does not alienate the moderates in the Liberal Party.

These changes come also as Mr Turnbull appears to have steered the Liberal Government to calmer waters in the polls.

The latest Newspoll figures show Labor’s lead shaved from 52 to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

Good handling of the energy crisis debate — with Mr Turnbull announcing the Snowy 2.0 plan and his meeting with gas company chiefs to try and improve domestic supply — has helped translate also into an improvement in his personal rating.

He and his government have endured many horror months, often the result of own goals.

But the vibe from the past week suggests there might be light at the end of the Turnbull tunnel.