Jacinta Allan fails to say if she believes Kaushaliya Vaghela’s bullying claims
Senior Minister Jacinta Allan has failed to say whether she believes rogue Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela’s bullying claims.
Victoria
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Senior Minister Jacinta Allan and St Albans MP Natalie Suleyman have failed to say whether they believe rogue Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela’s claims.
“In the case of circumstances involving Ms Vaghela, there are a number of matters that are involved here,” Ms Allan told reporters on Tuesday morning.
“There is the matter involving a claim against a now-former government staff member and that claim was appropriately investigated and dealt with. That person is no longer a member of staff.
“There are issues around Ms Vaghela’s membership that will be dealt with appropriately.
“There’s other reports of matters to do with IBAC and WorkSafe but they are independent agencies that will pursue those matters on their own times.
“There is a number of intersecting matters here, and I would point to the fact that when there was a claim that was made, and appropriately investigated — that person is no longer employed by the government.”
But Ms Allan was keen to throw her support behind the Premier, who was on the receiving end of Ms Vaghela’s accusations.
In an exclusive interview with the Herald Sun, Ms Vaghela claimed she was scared of Daniel Andrews, adding that she believed he was “spiteful” and a “misogynist”.
Ms Allan on Tuesday doubled down on her response to the claims, stating: “It’s been acknowledged, indeed it’s been reported, that those statements have not been able to be substantiated with any evidence.”
“My own working experience, my own personal experience of working alongside the Premier is that he is a very supportive Premier of men and women around the cabinet table, and around the caucus, and indeed across the public service,” she added.
“I think it’s important to acknowledge that there have been a number of statements that have been made. There is a range of different matters that are on foot at the same time.”
Meanwhile, Ms Suleyman said: “I’m not here to make comment on people and their feelings and their views.”
Ms Vaghela is a step closer to being kicked out of the ALP after the party began moves to expel her.
Ms Vaghela last week sparked chaos in parliament after she crossed the floor to vote with the opposition to have Labor’s “red shirts” election rort reinvestigated.
She was the first Victorian Labor MP to vote against the party in more than 40 years.
The matter has been referred to the party’s internal disputes tribunal which could expel her if she is found guilty of wrongdoing.
A government spokeswoman said membership was a matter for the ALP.
Ms Vaghela on Monday lashed out at the move to expel her and said it was a poor response to claims of bullying and her backing of a corruption probe pushed by Adem Somyurek.
“I supported this motion because I believe the issues raised in the motion exposed the Labor Party to major future risk of corruption,” she said.
“I, therefore, believe I was the only Labor Party member acting in the Labor Party’s interest.
“I note that there was no binding caucus decision on this motion.”
Ms Vaghela said it was hypocritical to expel her for referring matters to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog while the federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese was campaigning on a federal integrity body.
“If this is the Labor Party’s response to fighting corruption and going public with (a) systematic bullying complaint, it is not a party I wish to belong to,” she said.
It comes after the opposition asked the state’s anti-corruption watchdog to investigate claims made by Ms Vaghela.
The Herald Sun revealed on Sunday that Ms Vaghela wrote to the Premier in May 2021, outlining allegations of taxpayer-funded multicultural grants and board positions being effectively offered as political currency.
Leader of the opposition in the upper house David Davis said Daniel Andrews must explain what actions he took in response to these allegations.
“The Andrews Labor government has a long history of political cover-ups and appointing supporters to key government roles,” he said.
“The public deserves to know the truth and these serious allegations must be appropriately investigated.
“A Matthew Guy Liberals and Nationals government will return transparency to our state government, so Victorians can recover and rebuild in confidence.”
Earlier, the opposition demanded Mr Andrews apologise after the mental state of Ms Vaghela was called into question.
Ms Vaghela told the Herald Sun she had been subjected to years of bullying within the Victorian Labor Party.
She alleged widespread harassment since becoming an MP in 2018 and said repeated complaints to the Premier’s office were ignored.
In response, the Premier on Sunday described the bulling claims as “fantasy without foundation”.
Treasurer Tim Pallas called into question Ms Vaghela’s mental state.
Opposition spokeswoman for women Emma Kealy said gaslighting of Ms Vaghela’s bullying allegations must be condemned.
“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Daniel Andrews likes to say he takes responsibility for every decision made within his government,” she said.
“I believe Ms Vaghela. I have seen and experienced the way the Premier treats women in the Victorian parliament.
“I have seen him sneer at any question from a female MP, make belittling comments and tell women they are irrelevant, even calling a female MP “vacant”.
“If the Premier has nothing to hide about bullying and harassment by him and his office then he would welcome a full, independent investigation.
“Instead, the Premier is gaslighting by saying it’s all just “fantasy”.
“Victim blaming is not leadership. Every Victorian woman deserves better.”
Speaking exclusively to the Herald Sun Ms Vaghela accused members of Daniel Andrews’ Socialist Left faction, including a key adviser, of threatening, intimidating and harassing her after she deflected to the party’s Right faction and entered parliament.
“They wanted to break me mentally, physically, and psychologically,” she said.
“They thought if they did this I would get tired and walk away, they wanted me to walk away. I was determined not to.”
In a withering attack on the party’s leadership Ms Vaghela said she felt personally let down by the Premier and his office.
She accused Mr Andrews of refusing to make public appearances alongside her, and said multiple complaints to his office about bullying were ignored.
“He has a problem with women, but he also has problem with anyone who doesn’t hold the same views as him or doesn’t do what he wants,” she said.
“Every Labor MP, every Labor minister is scared of the Premier because they know he is so spiteful.
“He will take revenge. Everybody’s scared. That’s why nobody says anything against him. And anyone, any woman that does, they disappear. Like Jenny Mikakos.
“People don’t see his real side. He’s a misogynist, that is what he is.
“He talks about respecting but that’s not what I saw.”
Senior Andrews government Minister Jacinta Allan backed the Premier on Sunday, disputing claims he was a “misogynist”.
“It’s important to clarify that these are statements that (Ms Vaghela) has made,” Ms Allan said.
“No evidence has been provided to support those statements that have been made.
“When it comes to driving an equality agenda making sure women, whether you’re a woman from regional Victoria, an Indigenous woman, a woman experiencing homelessness as a consequence of family violence, the Premier has spent every day determined to improve the quality of life for women in our state.”
Despite the explosive attack on Mr Andrews, Ms Vaghela made no specific allegation of bullying against the Premier.
But she accused him of turning a blind eye to relentless bullying she says was facilitated by his refusal to intervene.
Ms Vaghela was dumped by Labor in December, and will not continue as an MP following November’s state election.
However she said her complaints about bullying dated to 2019, and had nothing to do with being disendorsed.
She made a formal written complaint in May last year.
The Premier confirmed a government staffer left “some time ago” following a complaint made by Ms Vaghela, but did not elaborate on the nature of the complaint.
“There was an issue and it was dealt with appropriately,” Mr Andrews said.
“That person no longer works in my office.”
Meanwhile, Victorian Major Events Minister Martin Pakula defended the Premier against the bullying allegations made by Ms Vaghela.
“All I can say is that the description of him that she provided doesn’t in any way resemble my experience,” Mr Pakula said.
“(Mr Andrews) is entitled to describe an allegation about him any way he likes. He’s in a position to know whether something like that is correct.”
Mr Pakula said he had not reached out to Ms Vaghela since the accusations surfaced.
“I would not describe myself as a confidant of Kaushaliya,” he said.
“I don’t think she would describe me as someone who has been a particularly close friend.”
Speaking to whether Ms Vaghela should be kicked out of the Labor party, Mr Pakula said “if I crossed the floor I would not expect to be in caucus after that”.
“I’ve been with the Labor party for 35 years and I’ve been in the caucus for 16,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a member cross the floor previously and I’m not going to speak to her state of mind.”
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