Melton MP Don Nardella’s property empire exposed

DISGRACED MP Don Nardella owned two properties in his Melton seat while milking $37,678 a year from taxpayers to live by the beach.

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DISGRACED MP Don Nardella owned two properties in his Melton seat while milking $37,678 a year from taxpayers to live by the beach.

Mr Nardella was booted out of the parliamentary Labor Party this week because he refused to pay back money he claimed as a controversial “second residence” allowance since moving to Ocean Grove in 2014. But the Herald Sun can reveal that when Mr Nardella first claimed the allowance he owned two homes in his Melton electorate and chose to rent them out.

He eventually sold both properties in February 2015 for $197,000 and $191,000.

Don Nardella votes at State Parliament causing uproar in the chamber. Picture: Nicole Garmston

The ousted deputy speaker’s fall from grace continued on Wednesday when Labor colleagues turned on him and said he should leave parliament if he didn’t pay back more than $100,000.

Mr Nardella will also be stripped of his position on a parliamentary committee that planned an overseas junket.

Labor is in open despair about the damage the saga, which also claimed the scalp of veteran MP Telmo Languiller as Speaker, continues to do to the Andrews Government.

The Herald Sun on Wednesday revealed a ReachTEL poll, conducted on March 2, showing Labor would lose up to 18 seats if an election were held today.

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A senior source said the results had destroyed morale.

As the pressure builds on Mr Nardella, he maintains he did not break any rules, saying painful personal issues forced him to move to Ocean Grove, and he was able to claim the allowance because he maintained a second home in Mordialloc.

However, the Herald Sun can reveal Mr Nardella pocketed the allowance for eight months before he bought the Mordialloc residence he has recently used to justify the claim.

He bought the $445,000 townhouse in December 2014, after starting to claim the allowance on April 23 that year.

He also owns another rental property in St Kilda.

Disgraced Melton MP Don Nardella maintains he did not break any rules. Picture: Jay Town

Mr Nardella, who on Tuesday told the Herald Sun to “f--- off”, refused to answer questions on Wednesday night about whether he had declared another Melbourne address as his second residence during that eight-month period.

But he told reporters on Wednesday he would co-operate with the parliamentary audit committee investigating his allowance claims. In February, Mr Nardella told the Herald Sun he was able to claim the taxpayer-funded second residence allowance because he lived in Ocean Grove and “when parliament is sitting I use the Mordialloc property”.

Ivanhoe MP Anthony Carbines on Wednesday demanded Mr Nardella pay back the money or quit parliament immediately, saying his electorate “has nothing but contempt for him”.

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This would trigger a messy by-election at a time the ReachTEL poll shows Labor’s primary vote at 30.3 per cent.

This follows a downward trend revealed in other recent polls, while Premier Daniel Andrews’ support has also dived.

Chaos was the order of the day again in parliament on Wednesday as Opposition Leader Matthew Guy tried to trigger a process to expel Mr Nardella from the Legislative Assembly. It was shut down by Labor.

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