Labor braces for report into dealings with fire union

Daniel Andrews is set to face questions over an explosive anti-corruption investigation into Labor’s dealings with fire union.

Daniel Andrews is set to face questions over a marathon anti-corruption investigation. Picture: Aaron Francis

Premier Daniel Andrews is set to face questions over a marathon anti-corruption investigation after witnesses were freed from keeping the probe secret.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission is putting the finishing touches to its top-secret investigation codenamed Operation Richmond.

The investigation’s original focus was into the dealings between the UFU and its state secretary Peter Marshall and Labor, but its terms are believed to have widened over the course of the probe.

IBAC has written to many witnesses this week, informing them its probe – which began in mid-2018 – is almost complete and that they were not bound by their confidentiality obligations.

It came after a Court of Appeal decision found the notices requiring witnesses remain silent were not drafted properly.

Mr Andrews is among those understood to have been interviewed and has repeatedly said the secrecy provisions mean he is unable to even acknowledge if he has been spoken to.

But he will now face pressure to answer questions about his involvement now that these rules have been lifted.

“I am not here to talk about matters which may or may not be ongoing,” the Premier said outside parliament on Wednesday morning.

“It’s not appropriate for me to be a spokesperson for an integrity agency.”

Senior ministers are also expected to have emerged as figures of interest during the investigation.

Among the issues believed to be central to the IBAC probe are the events surrounding the controversial merging of the Country Fire Authority and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and industrial agreements, allowances and pay claims between the government and the union.

It is also understood among the issues witnesses raised with IBAC was the alleged hacking of emails from MFB chiefs.

Operation Richmond has been one of the most secretive operations in the history of IBAC and has involved scores of witnesses being called before secret hearings.

“We gave them (IBAC) everything on a platter,” one witness told News Corp.

Among the issues believed central to the IBAC probe are the events surrounding the controversial merging of the Country Fire Authority and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and industrial agreements, allowances and pay claims between the government and the union.

Mr Andrews has previously declined to comment on whether he was a subject of the investigation.