Disgraced Melton MP’s secret coast ‘home’ revealed
LATEST: PREMIER Daniel Andrews says he expects police will probe whether Melton MP Don Nardella ever lived at the holiday park he claimed he spent almost three years living in..
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PREMIER Daniel Andrews says he expects police will probe whether Melton MP Don Nardella ever lived at the holiday park he claimed he spent almost three years living in.
The property he claimed as his primary residence was a cabin in the Ocean Grove Holiday Park. But managers said they had never seen the MP, who claimed $98,254 from taxpayers for living in the cabin, about 90km from his electorate.
The park has a “no residents” policy.
Mr Nardella had to quit as deputy Speaker, and last month resigned from the parliamentary Labor Party, after refusing to pay the money back.
Questions have now been raised about whether Mr Nardella misled parliament by claiming to have lived at the property between April 2014 and February this year.
Police have also been called in to investigate whether Mr Nardella had breached the Crimes Act.
Mr Nardella told the Parliamentary Audit Committee he moved to the property after a relationship breakdown, striking an informal arrangement with family members to use the property for a fortnightly payment of $200.
Premier Daniel Andrews said police will likely examine whether Mr Nardella lived at the holiday park.
“There’s a police investigation and I’m not going to cut across that, that’s one of the many matters that they would probably look at,” Mr Andrews said.
“In a broader sense, there’s a second report coming before parliament’s audit committee and we wait to see that report.
“That will inform the profound changes to these laws that need to be made and will be made by our government.”
Asked whether Mr Nardella’s position in parliament was untenable, Mr Andrews said “that’s entirely a matter for him”.
“He’s no longer a member of the parliamentary Labor party,” he said.
“My position has not changed on this: he ought to repay the money.
“Victoria Police have got a job to do and they’re doing that, his future is a matter for him.”
DODGY DON’S PROPERTY EMPIRE EXPOSED
MELTON RESIDENTS REVOLT AGAINST VICTORIAN MP DON NARDELLA
It can now be revealed the cabin belongs to Mr Nardella’s stepdaughter and her husband.
A Labor source said it was well known that Mr Nardella claimed to live in the cabin.
The Herald Sun spoke to a number of people at the holiday park this week, none of whom could recall ever seeing the MP at the property.
A worker at the holiday park said it was company policy to have no permanent residents, and management would have remembered Mr Nardella had he ever lived there.
“No one’s allowed to live here. This is not anyone’s permanent address at all,” the worker said. “That’s policy — we’re a holiday park.
“I would imagine we would know someone who was living in the park … we just don’t have any permanents.”
Another person, who occasionally stays in the park, had never seen Mr Nardella.
“If he was living here, I would have thought I would have seen him at some point,” the man said.
A man who had been staying at the caravan park for a month also said he had never seen the MP.
Mr Nardella was able to claim the lucrative “second residence” allowance because it was more than 80km from the city and he maintained another residence in Melbourne.
He told auditors investigating his expenses that he didn’t make a St Kilda property his primary residence because it was “not spacious enough”.
According to evidence provided by Mr Nardella, the relatives who owned the cabin did not wish to co-operate with the parliamentary audit committee’s investigation of the expenses scandal.
The audit report said there was “some evidence” Mr Nardella paid for items at the cabin, including blinds, a security screen, and a hot water unit, but the arrangement could be construed “as non-prudent, non-arm’s length, potentially non-commercial (low “rent”), and arguably opportunistic, designed to ensure continued enjoyment of the second residence allowance”.
Mr Nardella did not reply to requests for comment.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the new revelations were further proof that Mr Nardella rorted his entitlements.
“It’s hard to believe that Daniel Andrews continues to defend this man,” Mr Guy said.
“Daniel Andrews is fighting harder to protect this rorting MPs job than he ever did for the 750 Hazelwood workers.”
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