Labor refuses to confirm whether embroiled MP Will Fowles will remain a member of the party

Labor has refused to confirm whether embroiled MP Will Fowles will remain a member of the party amid bombshell assault allegations.

Will Fowles has been accused of sexually assaulting a female government employee. Picture: Mark Stewart

The Labor Party’s state secretary has refused to confirm whether axed government MP Will Fowles remains a member of the party in the wake of bombshell assault allegations.

The parliament’s Electoral Matters committee, which Mr Fowles remains the chair of, met for its first hearing since the Ringwood MP was asked to resign from the parliamentary Labor team.

But Mr Fowles was on Thursday absent from the committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the conduct of the 2022 Victorian state election.

Deputy chair and Liberal MP Evan Mulholland questioned Labor’s state secretary Chris Ford and assistant state secretary Cameron Petrie as to whether the Victorian Electoral Commission received formal warnings about Mr Fowles’ behaviour during the lead up to last year’s state election.

The Herald Sun this week revealed complaints had been made about Mr Fowles’ behaviour towards voters at polling booths, including claims that he made “several women cry”.

Mr Petrie said he wasn’t aware of any complaints received by the VEC.

“Not to my knowledge,” Mr Petrie said.

“We consider that a matter for the VEC.”

Asked if Mr Fowles remained a member of the broader Labor Party following his resignation as a government MP, state secretary Chris Ford said: “I would never confirm whether an individual was a member or not of the Labor Party.”

Mr Fowles, who has strenuously denied assault allegations and believes his resignation from Labor will be “temporary”, remains an independent MP.

It’s unclear whether Mr Fowles will continue to chair the Electoral Matters committee, which adds an extra $19,883 to his $198,839 parliamentary wage.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday said he was still receiving advice about how that matter could be handled.

The member for Ringwood, who was elected to parliament in 2018, resigned from the parliamentary Labor Party on Saturday after the government referred allegations of sexual assault against a female government employee to Victoria Police.

Complaints about Will Fowles’ behaviour were made in the lead-up to last year’s state election.

It followed a two-day investigation by the Premier’s private office.

A police spokesman on Wednesday confirmed an official complaint had still not been received from a victim in relation to the matter.

Leader of the opposition in the upper house Georgie Crozier and manager of opposition business James Newbury have now written to the secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Jeremi Moule, to request a formal investigation.

“The Premier states that his office received a complaint on Thursday, August 3, 2023, and that his senior staff spoke to the alleged victim,” they wrote.

“The Premier compared the matter to another in 2019 when Mr Fowles kicked in a hotel door in Canberra, stating that: ‘This is of a completely different nature to what occurred in a hotel foyer in Canberra … It is allegedly very much more ­serious’.­

“The Premier states in the context of this matter that the ‘wellbeing of staff and their right to a safe workplace is not negotiable’, and that he takes ‘the safety of staff, the safety of employees, the safety of everybody in a workplace very, very seriously’.

“As head of Victoria’s Public Service, including employees in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, we request that you commence an investigation into this matter and that there be a public report.”

But Daniel Andrews on Thursday dismissed the Liberal Party’s push to involve Mr Moule, accusing the opposition of weaponising the revelations to gain “political advantage”.

“It’s with Victoria Police. That’s where it should be. Not the speaker, not the head of my department,” he said.

“For me, this is not a political game, this is very, very serious.

“Nothing about this is pleasant, nothing about this is trivial, nothing about this should be political.”

Sources said Mr Fowles was seen acting erratically inside state parliament’s members’ bar last Wednesday before the alleged assault.

He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

“I was shocked and distressed to learn last night that an allegation of assault has been made against me,” he said on Sunday.

“The details of the claim have not been put to me. I strenuously deny any allegation of assault. It is not true. There was no assault.

“I was asked to stand aside as a member of the Parliamentary Labor Party, a situation I expect will be temporary.”

Mr Andrews said Labor’s handling of the matter was the “textbook, absolute gold standard”.

But opposition leader John Pesutto rubbished the Premier’s comments, saying Mr Andrews should have expelled Mr Fowles years ago.

“The facts show it’s anything but gold standard … it’s a complete fail,” Mr Pesutto said.

“Daniel Andrews has protected him, preserved him and promoted him.”

Mr Pesutto said an investigation was required to identify “shortcomings in the Premier’s office” or in parliament as a whole.