Premier Daniel Andrews asked for developer John Woodman to be told of his ‘regret’ over planning decision deferral

Daniel Andrews expressed regret to a controversial property developer over a rezoning decision delay and lashed out at an “a---hole’” journalist who was writing stories about the developer, a report reveals.

Premier Daniel Andrews asked to express regret to a major political donor and developer for the government deferring a land rezoning decision that impacted the businessman’s interests, an explosive report reveals.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission handed down a long-awaited report into corruption in local government and planning, finding that developer John Woodman improperly influenced decision-making through payments and donations.

This included efforts to secure the rezoning of industrial land in Cranbourne West that would have benefited land holders Mr Woodman represented, and net him a $2m success fee.

To try to get decisions in his favour, Mr Woodman lavished $1.1m on Casey councillors who promoted his interests, and more than $470,000 in donations to major political parties and political candidates – some of which were split into separate payments so they came under public disclosure limits.

Daniel Andrews asked to express regret to John Woodman about a deferral of a rezoning decision. Picture: David Geraghty

Through the connections he created, Mr Woodman was able to get access to MPs and ministers, including Premier Daniel Andrews, at meetings and functions.

The report outlines several encounters between the premier and the developer or his associates, including in 2016 when Mr Woodman’s lobbyists Megan Schutz and Phil Staindl approached the premier at a “number of functions” to ask him to expedite a planning body’s recommendation that impacted his projects.

In 2017, Mr Woodman and his son, along with the two lobbyists, attended lunch at a restaurant with Mr Andrews, after bidding $10,000 for the honour during a fundraising event.

In 2019, phone taps showed Mr Staindl informing Mr Woodman that he had given the premier his phone number because Mr Andrews wanted to call him.

Property developer John Woodman was able to get access to politicians, including Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: Aaron Francis

According to Mr Staindl “the Premier praised Mr Woodman’s contribution to the Labor Party and lamented the fact that Mr Woodman was being pursued with allegations of corruption by a journalist who was an ‘arsehole’”.

Mr Staindl said the Premier wanted to apologise to Mr Woodman for deferring a decision on Cranbourne West land rezoning because of those allegations, and that he gave Mr Andrews the developer’s phone number “as the Premier said he would like to call Mr Woodman”.

Under oath, Mr Staindl said that the “general tenor” of what he relayed was accurate but he may have used embellishment during the phone call.

Mr Andrews was secretly grilled by IBAC, and said that he could not recall the exact conversation he had with Mr Staindl, but accepted he may have made mention of Mr Woodman’s substantial donations to the party.

Mr Andrews he could not recall the exact conversation. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

“The Premier stated that he could not recollect the content of the conversation with Mr Staindl, nor having a conversation with him on that particular occasion at all, but said there were some things that Mr Staindl had recounted to Mr Woodman that did not ‘ring true’ or ‘sit well’ with him,” the report says.

This includes calling a journalist an arsehole, and that he would have any involvement in the planning minister’s decision on rezoning, the report says.

“The Premier considered it highly unlikely that he would have wanted to have Mr Staindl convey an apology for the decision being deferred,” the report says.

“The Premier accepted that Mr Staindl may have given him Mr Woodman’s telephone number, but he said it was highly unlikely that, if he had sought Mr Woodman’s phone number, he would have been doing so for the purposes of talking about a planning application.”

The IBAC considered Mr Staindl’s admission of possible embellishment but said as a staunch ALP supporter he was unlikely to have sought to damage the premier when providing evidence.

Therefore it found that “the ‘general tenor’ of the conversation was as Mr Staindl described”.

The IBAC report says it was likely the Premier made reference to the deferral of a decision on C219 due to media stories about the developer “and invited Mr Staindl to convey to Mr Woodman his regret that this occurred”.

The report says that Mr Woodman and his associates’ dealings with the premier and ministers showed the “opportunities for privileged access that they were able to gain in relation to planning matters”.

It found Mr Woodman also “maintained contact with other senior ministers”, in particular the Treasurer Tim Pallas, (former) Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan and Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Jacinta Allan, through Labor’s fundraising entity, Progressive Business.

Through Mr Staindl and Progressive Business, Mr Woodman obtained access to the Premier, Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Attorney-General, Minister for Roads, and Minister for Education.

“Each held portfolios relevant to planning decisions,” the report says.