Allan government bill to block Lawyer X compensation faces roadblock in Victoria’s upper house

The Allan government wants to pass a law that would ban compensation payouts linked to the Lawyer X saga. Now it faces claims there is an ulterior motive behind its push.

The Allan government has been accused of trying to bluff lawyers into settling potentially damaging legal cases over the Lawyer X scandal.

The government rushed its State Civil Liability (Police Informants) Bill through the lower house this week before moving to delay debate in the upper house until the next parliamentary sitting week.

That move was defeated on Wednesday night.

It means the bill should be debated today but is doomed to fail because the government is yet to secure the support of enough crossbench MPs.

Suggestions the government could now adjourn debate has prompted speculation that it is working to bluff lawyers into settling ongoing matters.

Doing so would kill off potentially damaging public trials, and could also significantly limit any financial liability faced by the state.

Tony Mokbel and Nicola Gobbo leave Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2004. Picture: Bill McAuley

Nicola Gobbo is suing Victoria police. Picture: ABC News

A number of civil matters have already begun as a result of the saga including cases by gangland lawyer Nicola Gobbo and Faruk Orman.

Orman was freed from prison after his conviction over the 2002 Victor Peirce murder was quashed in the wake of the Lawyer X saga.

Legal sources estimate the Victorian government has already spent millions of dollars fighting Orman’s case.

Two other Gobbo clients, Angelo Venditti and Zlate Cvetanovski, are also seeking compensation from the government.

Those cases, and their public trials, are set to continue unless the government can pass the bill

Libertarian MP David Limbrick said the prospect the bill could be passed during the next sitting week would “incentivise” lawyers to settle matters.

He said there would be concern that the government would be able to sure up support for the bill over coming weeks.

“I feel like, potentially, that is actually the objective of what’s happening here,” he said.

Faruk Orman had his conviction quashed after spending 12 years in jail because of Lawyer X. Picture: David Crosling

The bill will limit the state’s civil liability for legal claims relating to information sharing or other assistance provided to Victoria Police by both Gobbo and underworld lawyer Joseph Acquaro.

It will also knock out a multimillion-dollar claim from Gobbo herself.

Gobbo and Acquaro secretly served as police informants despite having obligations of confidentiality to their clients.

The government faces an uphill battle in the upper house, where it is yet to secure the support of the crossbench, to pass the controversial legislation.

Manager of opposition business, James Newbury, on Wednesday accused the government of trying to rush the bill through parliament to “whitewash the civil element of this very dark matter for this state.”

The Herald Sun broke the Lawyer X story. Picture: Herald Sun

Shadow Attorney-General, Michael O’Brien, said the legislation set a dangerous precedent.

“This is the Labor government seeking to use its political power to take away the rights of individual citizens who have been done wrong by this state and by this state government,” he said.

“For those who claim to have an affinity for the union movement and for standing up for the rights of people who have had power used against them, it is extraordinary that a government that claims to represent those values would bring a bill like this before the parliament.

“This is nothing else but the exercise of naked political power at the expense of the rights of other people.”

Premier Jacinta Allan on Thursday denied the bill was always doomed to fail.

“This bill is reflective of a very dark chapter in the in the in the history of this state,” she said.

“This happened 20 years ago, and it is time that this chapter was brought to a close.”

Greens Integrity spokesman Tim Read said the bill “removes a fundamental legal right” and a mechanism for “police accountability”.

“The Premier’s been very strong on consequences for children this week, but adult, senior, middle aged police officers who are responsible for this debacle should also be facing consequences,” he said.