Matthew Guy lobster dinner with Tony Madafferi: host defends lavish meal
EMBATTLED Liberal Barrie Macmillan has resigned from his roles within the party in the wake of Opposition Leader Matthew Guy’s lobster dinner crisis.
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EMBATTLED Liberal Barrie Macmillan has resigned from his roles within the party in the wake of Opposition Leader Matthew Guy’s lobster dinner crisis.
Secret recordings of Mr Macmillan were aired this morning where he discussed securing political donations from alleged Mafia figure Tony Madafferi and others who were at a dinner attended by Mr Guy in April.
Mr Guy denies he knew Mr Madafferi would be at the dinner, which he said he went to at the invitation of Liberal member Frank Lamattina.
Liberal Party State Director Simon Frost went to the home of Mr Macmillan today, and is understood to have discussed Mr Macmillan’s options with him.
Mr Macmillan offered his resignation as secretary of the Dunkley federal electorate conference and vice chair of the Hastings state electorate conference.
He will remain a member of the party unless one of those branches, or the state administrative committee, moves to have him suspended.
Mr Frost said he and the Liberal Party were “110 per cent behind Matthew Guy” as he left Mr Macmillan’s home this afternoon.
“The party, from the President to myself and all the senior office bearers down are 110 per cent behind Matthew Guy,” he said.
The resignation follows calls by Matthew Guy for the Liberal Party to consider dumping Mr Macmillan, after he talked about soliciting donations from an alleged mafia figure in leaked phone recordings.
Mr Guy this morning said he had no knowledge of the Liberal Party official Barrie Macmillan’s plan and the Liberal Party needed to get into contact with him.
Mr Guy maintains he met with long-time Liberal supporter Frank Lamattina and his cousin, alleged Melbourne mafia figure Tony Madafferi, at the Lobster Cave in April to discuss issues around fruit and vegetable markets.
Recordings obtained by Fairfax Media cite Mr MacMillan suggesting the dinner he organised was set up to solicit donations.
“I don’t know anything about that and I’ve said everything I know about this case yesterday,” Mr Guy said.
“If one individual has sought to solicit something or get something, then, well, that’s up to him to answer.”
Liberal Party member Keith Maggs has denied discussing introducing Mr Madafferi and Mr Guy in recorded phone conversations.
“No mate, no,’’ he said.
“I consult in the fruit and veg area but there’s no correlation.
“No, I am not (the third party).’’
Mr Maggs, who said he has spoken to Mr Macmillan about attending Liberal Party events in the past, said he had been contacted by “a number of people’’ about the issue.
“A number of people have rung in relation to that but I can’t help you,’’ he said.
“I don’t know why they’ve drawn that conclusion but it’s not a correct conclusion.
“Obviously there’s a lot of speculation going on. I’ve had a couple of people call me about whether I was the other party on the phone.’’
He said he had not met Mr Madafferi and was not invited to and did not attend the Lobster Cave where Mr Guy and Mr Madafferi dined together in April.
“I am a member of the Liberal Party but that doesn’t mean that I know what Matthew Guy is up to all the time,’’ he said.
Mr Guy said he had met Mr Macmillan three times and would rely on the party to get into contact with him.
He said he would make contact with Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger today about Mr Macmillan’s position in the party.
“It was not a donations dinner ... Mr Macmillan can say whatever he likes, I was there, I went there,” Mr Guy said.
He repeated his claim that he did not know alleged mafia identity Tony Madafferi was going to be at the dinner earlier this year.
Mr Madafferi has never been charged with any offence and denies any wrongdoing.
Premier Daniel Andrews said Liberal Party members had a lot of explaining to do.
“The conduct, the character and the association of others, I’ll leave that to them to explain that,” Mr Andrews said.
“There are many questions to answer and I’m not in a position to answer them, only those involved can account for the people they associate with, who they take money from and how they conduct themselves.”
Mr Andrews said he wasn’t sure IBAC had the powers to properly investigate the matter.
“I would never comment on an ongoing IBAC investigation,” he said.
“But I think there has been a lot of commentary in recent days about the thresholds required for IBAC to look into a matter, and I expect that the person who has referred himself to IBAC knows full well the very clear limits IBAC has, after all the former government wrote those limitations.”
Opposition MPs Heidi Victoria, David Southwick, Tim Smith and David Davis all said they backed Mr Guy this morning.
Mr Smith said he supported Mr Guy “100 per cent” and described the revelations as a “beltway issue”.
Attorney-General Martin Pakula said Mr Guy’s explanation about the dinner was “incredible”.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said Mr Guy had “failed the character test”.
LOBSTER DINNER HOST DEFENDS LAVISH MEAL
LIBERAL leader Matthew Guy is facing intense internal pressure over his decision to dine on lobster with alleged mafia figure Tony Madafferi.
The Opposition Leader has sensationally asked Victoria’s anti-corruption commission to probe the dinner, saying he has nothing to fear.
But some Liberals have already criticised Mr Guy for failing to check who was attending the April 12 meal at the Lobster Cave, organised by prominent Liberal and fruit and vegetable grower Frank Lamattina.
The Liberal leader was defiant as news of the meal emerged on Tuesday, saying he had “broken no laws” and the only thing he could be accused of was a lack of political nous.
“I believe I have done nothing wrong. It has been inferred that I went there seeking money. That is completely and utterly false. I did not go there seeking money,” he said.
“If there is a judgment issue with me attending a function and staying at a function with Tony Madafferi, I accept that,” Mr Guy said.
In court documents police have accused Mr Madafferi of being a mafia figure with “close involvement with serious (crime) including drug importation, murder and extortion”.
On Tuesday night Mr Lamattina said of Mr Madafferi: “Tony runs a lot of things and a lot of businesses. His name has been smeared for the wrong reasons.”
He said he was disappointed the dinner involving Mr Madafferi had caused Mr Guy trouble, saying: “He didn’t know. He didn’t ask questions. We just had a good time together.
“You can have dinner with whoever you like,” Mr Lamattina said.
“You can have dinner with the Prime Minister — I have had dinner with (former PM) John Howard many times,” he said.
Mr Lamattina said his proud family had done nothing wrong.
“Tell the people of Australia that we took Matthew Guy for tea. We can take anyone we like to tea. Why should they smear our name for that.”
He said his family had supported the Liberal Party since the 1950s and were proud of their contribution to the fruit and vegetable industry.
“We go to functions. I have been a couple of times to functions. But yeah they start campaigning for an election that is 16 months away. They have to campaign for the election. Of course we talk about that,” he said.
But he said there was no talk of political donations during the meeting.
“We invited the people we want to invite and that was it. No donations none at all, when you invite someone you don’t do donations.”
He denied the table ordered Grange but said he chose the Lobster Cave because he had a 35-year friendship with its owner, Bill Ferg.
“Of course he sat down with us. We are good friends, he produces good food too.”
Mr Lamattina said he wanted to discuss the high rents and other issues at the new fruit market in Epping.
“We are not happy with how the place has been run. Or else there won’t be a market left.”
Federal Liberal vice-president Karina Okotel contacted administrative committee members on Tuesday, saying people were calling to say they were “considering resigning from the party or not assisting with fundraising ... for the next election because of the perception of corruption due to the news headlines regarding Matthew Guy’s alleged involvement with mafia ties”.
Ms Okotel said: “Lack of members to man booths and to fundraise, to my mind, is an even bigger issue … looking ahead to the state election.”
On Tuesday night she sent another email to party colleagues saying that Mr Guy had “come out strongly on the issue of alleged mafia involvement”.
State Liberal Party president Michael Kroger told the Herald Sun: “No disclosable donations have been made from any of these (people at the dinner) since Matthew Guy has been in parliament.”
Donations to a party of a single payment of more than $13,500 are disclosable.
Mr Guy said on Tuesday that when he arrived at the dinner he hadn’t known who the man Mr Lamattina introduced as “cousin Tony” was.
Liberal MPs said it had been a while since they had to face a “bushfire” like this but most believed him, saying he should be able to “ride out” the crisis.
Some said it showed a “lack of judgment”. One said he should have told Mr Lamattina that he could never have anything to do with Mr Madafferi.
“He should have said “Don’t put me in that position’,” the MP said.
Mr Lamattina said donations had not been discussed at the meal, and his family, which had supported the Liberal Party since the 1950s, had done nothing wrong. “Our name is very clean and clear,” he said.
Victoria Police has banned Mr Madafferi from racetracks and Crown casino, and affidavits filed in the Supreme Court, where Mr Madafferi is trying to overturn the bans, allege he has “close involvement with serious criminal conduct, including drug importation, murder and extortion, and his association with prominent criminal entities and persons who have a history of significant criminal conduct.’’
Mr Madafferi has previously denied any wrongdoing, and has never been charged with any offence.
He is understood to be “upset’’ by the exposure of his meeting with Mr Guy, but has refused to comment.
Mr Guy said he would also refer to the independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission the leak of transcripts of a phone conversation between Liberal figure Barrie Macmillan and an unknown person, which suggested the Lobster Cave meal should be held secretively.
“(I have been alerted) that a phone call to my office was made with a few names — one of those names was Antonio Madafferi. That was not passed on to me,” he said.
Mr Guy challenged the Labor Party to declare that none of its MPs or officials had met Mr Madafferi.
He said his plate of seafood had been worth less than $500 — the sum at which gifts must be registered.
Others at the dinner were Hawthorn footballer turned Liberal councillor Geoff Ablett, Bruno Diaco, a relative of Mr Madafferi by marriage, and fruit and vegetable wholesaler Vince Doria.
Mr Doria told the Herald Sun he had exchanged pleasantries with Mr Guy during a short but “bloody great meal”.
“To me he was just a normal bloke who was invited over for tea,’’ Mr Doria said.
Deputy Premier James Merlino said “the self-referral to IBAC was a desperate act by a desperate leader … whose credibility is in tatters. He has shown he has neither the character or judgment to be the next premier of Victoria.
“Matthew Guy can refer himself to wherever he likes, but has been caught out dining with a known organised crime figure, and that fact goes to his judgment and character. And we will be reminding Victorians of that every day until the next election,” he said.
LOBSTER CAVE FEAST CREATES MAJOR POLITICAL HEARTBURN
THE restaurant where the man who wants to be the state’s most powerful politician dined with an alleged Melbourne Calabrian mafia boss aims to please a crowd with refined tastes.
Matthew Guy met alleged mafia boss Antonio “Blondie” Madafferi at the Lobster Cave in Beaumaris, in Melbourne’s southeast.
Tucked into a bustling street lined with other shops and restaurants, the Lobster Cave looks like a popular family eatery.
But it is certainly not ordinary. Owner Bill Ferg’s signature dish, known as “Ultimate Fergination”, is valued at $449.99 and includes two whole-grilled lobsters.
Mr Guy ordered a seafood platter. And the pair drank several expensive bottles of Penfolds Grange, some bottles of which sell for up to $1500.
Mr Madafferi has an estimated worth of $60 million, and it was his entourage that picked up the bill without a blink of the eye.
Mr Madafferi is understood to be “upset’’ at the exposure of his meeting with Mr Guy, but has refused to comment on the matter.
Mr Madafferi, a fruiterer, was born in the Italian town of Oppido, in Calabria, Italy, on January 7, 1951.
The businessman has no criminal convictions but has been investigated by police as an Italian organised crime figure for several decades.
A Victoria Police affidavit lodged with the Supreme Court last month — in support of banning Mr Madafferi from Crown Casino and Victorian racecourses — states Mr Madafferi has been probed over murder, drug importation and extortion. Police also allege Mr Madafferi has significant underworld connections.
In a police statement made in 1997, an investigator states: “It is the belief of myself and other investigators that Antonio Madafferi is the head of an organised crime syndicate operating within, or associated with, the Melbourne Fresh Produce Market.
“Investigators also believe that Antonio Madafferi is also an enforcer for this syndicate.’’
Mr Madafferi was also a close associate of slain lawyer Joseph Acquaro, who was his legal counsel and family friend.
Acquaro, as well as being the family’s defence lawyer, had been one of the Madafferis’ political conduits.
He helped set up meetings for Mr Madafferi with politicians, including a lunch in 2008 with then federal Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull and with the federal Liberal MP Russell Broadbent, with whom Mr Madafferi has a long relationship.
Mr Madafferi has been a donor to the Liberal Party and its controversial Millennium Forum.
Police files reveal that Mr Madafferi was already the subject of a National Crime Authority probe into the extent of Italian organised crime in Australia in the 1990s.
Mr Madafferi’s brother, Francesco, was at the centre of a controversial decision by former federal immigration minister Amanda Vanstone to allow him to stay in Australia.
Ms Vanstone controversially overturned a 1997 decision by her predecessor, Philip Ruddock, to deport him after significant lobbying.
Francesco Madafferi, who was convicted of being a member of a mafia syndicate that attempted to import a record drug haul in 2007, is serving a sentence at Barwon Prison.
At state parliament on Tuesday, on the first sitting day after a long midwinter break, Labor MPs dined out on lobster jokes at Opposition MPs’ expense. Others gorged on mob puns, or lapped up references to Penfolds Grange.
No movie reference was left untouched.
At a press conference, Attorney-General Martin Pakula said Opposition Leader Mr Guy — who has campaigned hard on law and order issues — had two personas.
“He wants to be Judge Dredd by day, and Tony Soprano by night,” Mr Pakula said.
Earlier, Mr Guy said he had been unaware that Tony Madafferi would be at the Beaumaris dinner.
He said that during the dinner he had been introduced to “cousin Tony” but had not recognised him.
“I knew he was cousin Tony, and then I asked Frank (Lamattina) what his last name was,” Mr Guy said.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan, who once launched an attack on the Liberals over what he called “blood money” donations, couldn’t resist going to town at Mr Guy’s expense.
After beginning to deliver a ministerial statement on matters within his roads portfolio responsibilities, Mr Donnellan managed a segue into lobster territory.
“I would suggest, with lobsters, you should have chardonnay, not the Penfolds Grange — I would say a Yarra Valley chardonnay,” he said.
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