No record of Daniel Andrews secret meeting with UFU boss Peter Marshall

A SECRET meeting between Daniel Andrews and United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall was not recorded in the Premier’s official diary.

Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: Sarah Matray

A SECRET meeting between Daniel Andrews and United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall was not recorded in the Premier’s official diary.

Documents obtained by the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws reveal Mr Andrews has met with 16 union officials in as many months.

But a meeting between the Premier and Mr Marshall on April 13 this year is not one of those recorded in the Premier’s diary appointments.

It comes as a fire storm has engulfed the Andrews Government, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week introducing new laws to protect the Country Fire Authority from a union takeover.

Shadow attorney-general John Pesutto said the diary records showed the pivotal meeting was secret.

“Labor promised not to run a secret state and open their doors to the public, but Daniel Andrews has again said one thing and done another,” Mr Pesutto said.

“Just imagine what Victorians would learn about the real Daniel Andrews if diary records of his secret meeting with UFU boss, Peter Marshall, had been kept?

“Diary records showing Daniel Andrews meeting with 16 union officials in as many months tells Victorians who is really running our state.”

Mr Andrews sidelined his then Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett by meeting with the union boss amid the bitter CFA pay dispute.

After the Premier acceded to many of Mr Marshall’s ­demands, the government was sent into crisis with Ms Garrett and CFA chief Lucinda Nolan handing in their resignations, and the fire service’s entire board sacked.

United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall.

Shadow-Attorney-General and Hawthorn MP John Pesutto, Picture: Janine Eastgate

Between February 2015 and May 2016, diary records show Mr Andrews met with 16 union officials.

These included five officials from the militant Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, including its national boss Michael O’Connor.

Mr Andrews also met twice with Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt.

Mr Andrew’s chief of staff also met with at least four union officials during the time period, including the CFMEU forestry division’s national president, Jane Calvert.

Government spokesman Chris Piper said: “The Premier meets with many different people and organisations in the course of his work, including business and industry leaders, unions and employer groups.”

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