IBAC: Adem Somyurek’s factional allies allegedly agreed to corrupt grant donation

Factional allies of disgraced MP Adem Somyurek allegedly agreed to corrupt the process of giving a $1m grant to a local community group.

Factional allies of Adem Somyurek allegedly agreed to corrupt the process of handing out $1m to a local community group, the state’s anti-corruption watchdog has heard.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission was shown text exchanges involving former Banyule Mayor Rick Garotti, who worked closely with Mr Somyurek’s Moderates faction.

In previous hearings, it was revealed Mr Garotti discussed a $1m government grant under the control of Multicultural Affairs Minister Robin Scott.

He was worried the money would go toward e-focus, a Somali group closely connected to factional rival Jenny Macklin.

Instead he wanted the money to go to the Somali Australia Council of Victoria, a group run by an ally of the Moderates named Dr Hussein Haraco.

“The money must go to SACOV,” he wrote to Mr Somyurek.

But in another text message shown to the commission on Friday, it was revealed Mr Garotti had struck a deal about the grant with a staffer in Mr Scott’s office.

“Mohamed (the staffer) to ensure that any decision regarding growth funding for the Himilo project is held off until Dr Hussein returns,” Mr Garotti wrote.

“In the interim Mohamed to explore other options for allocating the Himilo growth funding such as allocating it to councils or other respected peak bodies (ie: no e-focus).”

When shown the text, Mr Somyurek admitted that “everything in the message was wrong”.

“It is too assertive, it is dictating,” he said.

Disgraced MP Adem Somyurek. Picture: AAP

But counsel assisting the commission, Chris Carr SC, said it was worse than that.

“It’s reporting on an agreement to corrupt the process that has been reached between Mr Scott’s office and Mr Garotti,” he said.

“It is informing you about that agreement to corrupt the process that has been reached. What did you do?”

“At least one thing that we can take from this message ... Is that you were not terribly troubled.”

Mr Somyurek said he didn’t pay much attention to the message but agreed there was a conflict of interest, given Dr Haraco was a factional operative who continued to work for his group.

In another secretly recorded phone call, the powerbroker is heard on the phone with Andrew Landeryou, a Labor figure not linked to the Moderates, discussing how to explain media reports showing him withdrawing cash to allegedly pay for memberships.

They discussed the fact that forms “had to be lodged” before a certain date or that the money needed to be handled because of coronavirus restrictions.

“Or the gentleman that received the money could not leave his house because of coronavirus,” Mr Somyurek said on the call.

“That has collected the money off them, yeah, that’s probably (a) better one.”

In a document seen by IBAC, former premier Steve Bracks detailed the rotten core of the Labor Party. Picture: AAP

‘NO GOOD GUYS IN THE LABOR PARTY’

Victorian Labor has told the state’s anti-corruption watchdog the party was rife with toxic cultural problems and a major change needed to clean up parliament.

It comes as the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) heard “there are no good guys in the Labor party”, as it probes the activities of disgraced MP Adem Somyurek.

The commission was on Friday provided a document from former Premier Steve Bracks and former federal MP Jenny Macklin, in which they detailed the rotten core of the party discovered in an audit last year.

“We formed the view that the issue of branch stacking was widespread within the branch. It was not an issue that related to a single faction of few individuals,” the report said.

Mr Bracks and Ms Macklin told IBAC they had revoked memberships across multiple groups and that stacking was systemic, with Mr Somyurek’s faction the most “egregious” offenders.

“We also formed the view that branch stacking, although pernicious in its own right, was a symptom of deeper cultural issues that had emerged within the branch,” they wrote.

“A winner takes all mentality had emerged within some factional groups and a mentality that was exacerbated by a balkanization of two major factions.”

Mr Somyurek said all Labor MPs were forced into the political games that had run for decades.

“There are no good guys in the Labor party,” he said.

Mr Somyurek there was also a culture of denying and lying when caught out.

“We have to break that culture first,” he said.

“It’s been quite a cathartic experience for me to declare that I paid for memberships for 20 years.

“We need party leaders, people that are really successful in the Australian Labor Party to come out and tell their stories.”

Mr Somyurek was asked if the party had been unable to clean its act because both sides of the fence were involved and no one wanted to disturb the balance.

He said he would have been pulled up by others if he was acting “outside the culture”.

“In order to get to the change that you’re looking for, leaders have got to come out and say it’s unacceptable and own up to it,” Mr Somyurek said.

IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich said the events of the last five years had shown a serious problem in parliament.

“There are embedded cultural incentives to members of parliament continuing to deploy public funds for work that does not serve the public duties they are meant to be discharging,” he said.

“Addressing the branch staking only addresses half of the cultural problems.

“There’s a strong incentive from members of parliament to engage in a range of political activities and factional work, which you have said is necessary for their survival and that’s got to be addressed.”

Commissioner Redlich said relying on IBAC to catch out MPs was not a solution.

“This commission does not have the jurisdiction to monitor the integrity of members of parliament,” he said.

“One of the solutions that you mentioned, a parliamentary integrity officer but it needs to be something, does it not?, independent of parliament.”

SOMYUREK TOLD ALLIES TAKE OUT RIVAL

Disgraced MP Adem Somyurek told his allies to make sure taxpayer funded staffers “f---ing work” to take out a factional rival, the state’s anti-corruption watchdog has heard.

He also said authorities would find it “hard work” to convince Victorian politicians to clean up parliament.

Damming new evidence played by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission has revealed how the powerbroker pushed to make sure an enemy was kicked out of Labor.

The rival was Jasvinder Sidhu, who was linked to Premier Daniel Andrews Socialist Left faction.

In January 2020, Mr Sidhu was punched in the head at a hastily convened branch meeting which exposed factional tensions in Melbourne’s west.

The meeting, held at his home, attracted a large crowd and accusations the Socialist Left were rushing through new members to gain control of local branches.

Adem Somyurek at an IBAC hearing.

A Labor disputes tribunal later suspended his membership and temporarily banned him from standing for public office over charges of branch stacking and racist comments.

IBAC heard a secret recording of Mr Sidhu which detailed these remarks was obtained by Mr Somyurek and that he had discussed asking factional allies, Aakash and Aloke Kumar, to pay for a translator.

The disgraced MP was teary and had to pause the hearings when he was discussing the racist remarks.

“He was pitting skilled migrants like the Indians against people like my parents who came here as labourers and helped build Australia,” he said.

But the commission also heard Mr Somyurek afterwards dedicated significant taxpayer resources to ensuring Mr Sidhu was kicked out of Labor, which was a party political activity.

WATCH THE IBAC LIVESTREAM

He told Marlene Kairouz’s chief of staff Michael de Bruyn to get office staff on the job.

“I’m gonna get them to write a submission charging Jasvinder,” Mr Somyurek said in one recording.

“Make them f---ing work, they’re not gonna be sitting around again.”

In another text, Mr de Bruyn says he will “put a rocket up them”.

Mr de Bruyn later texted a colleague saying that the powerbroker wanted “everyone doing stuff”.

Mr Somyurek accepted that taxpayer-funded staff were being used for this work but contended this could also have been done outside of office hours.

He referred again to “grey areas” and that the role of an electorate officer working for a politician was inherently political.

Earlier in the day, the disgraced MP was pushed by Commissioner Robert Redlich about this.

“You consider that members of parliament have some latitude in being able to engage their electoral staff or ministerial staff in party political or faction work?” he said.

“Yes,” Mr Somyurek replied.

Somyurek wanted to beat his rival, Jasvinder Sidhu.

The powerbroker said it would be hard to fix this toxic culture in parliament because the very people involved were the ones who had the power to change the laws.

“You’re restrained from looking at other people, and you don’t know whether this is widespread, and if this is common practice or not,” Mr Somyurek said.

“Maybe the language needs to change around those entitlements.”

Mr Somyurek pointed towards the red shirts affair, in which the government did not adopt all of the recommendations made by the Victorian Ombudsman in the wake of the scandal.

“Normally, especially a party that’s done the wrong thing will be embarrassed to adopt everything from the ombudsman,” he said.

“That wasn’t adopted.

“You’re going to find it hard work to convince parliament that they should have a look at it.”

He said the public were “pretty cynical” about politicians and did not pay full attention when the red shirts affair came to light.

IBAC heard that junior staffers working for Ms Kairouz had known what they were doing was wrong and were visibly distressed speaking to the commission.

“You had to do it because of your job or she would not hire you or have you in there,” one employee told investigators.

A staffer for Mr Somyurek, Jake Cripps, said he would do “whatever senior members of government tell me what to do”.