Senior Labor figures critical of Victoria Police to influence rort probe: Opposition

SENIOR Labor figures have made public comments critical of Victoria Police to influence the investigation into the rorting of parliamentary expenses during the 2014 campaign, the state opposition says.

SENIOR Labor figures have made public comments critical of Victoria Police to influence the investigation into the rorting of parliamentary expenses during the 2014 campaign, the state opposition says.

And the government has moved to refer a number of Liberal MPs to the Ombudsman after it alleges they signed printing invoices that were falsified by a disgraced party official before the 2014 campaign.

During a fiery parliamentary sitting day both political parties threw mud at each other, months out from the November state election.

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Today, the Coalition circulated a Facebook post from assistant state secretary Kosmos Samaras on the day of last week’s arrest that said: “The enemy has to come through us first before they get to you”.

In a reply to the post, Labor member for Carrum Sonya Kilkenny backed Mr Samaras.

Carrum state Labor MP Sonya Kilkenny.

“What happened today should never (have) happened. Our young comrades are wonderful, loyal and committed people, who fight to make the lives of millions of Victorians better,’’ Ms Kilkenny posted.

But Mr Samaras told the Herald Sun his post referred to the party’s political opponents — the Liberal Party — and not the police.

He said his post was to show the party’s support to volunteers who had been arrested by Victoria Police’s Fraud and Extortion Squad as part of its probe into Labor’s misuse of $388,000 of parliamentary funds.

In the hours after the so-called Red Shirts arrests on August 2, Labor state secretary Sam Rae said dawn raids were completely unnecessary given those involved would have co-operated if asked.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, during Parliamentary Question Time today, claimed the party was putting political influence on police.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy today said Labor was putting political influence on police. Picture: AAP/Alex Murra

“What will you do to stop your party from making any further attempts to pressure Victoria Police to wind back their investigation?” he asked.

In response to the Liberal Party attacks, the Andrews Government moved to refer 40 current and former Coalition MPs to the Ombudsman to investigate whether they knew they were signing false printing invoices created by Liberal state secretary Damien Mantach in 2014.

Mr Mantach was jailed for stealing money from the Liberal Party and creating a kickback scheme where he would bill taxpayers an inflated cost for printing and skim the excess.

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