NewsBite

State government forced to table correspondence between Daniel Andrews and John Woodman

The state government has been ordered to hand over all correspondence between Daniel Andrews and property developer John Woodman.

Daniel Andrews grilled by IBAC again

THE state government has been ordered to hand over any and all correspondence between Daniel Andrews and property developer John Woodman.

It comes just weeks after revelations the Premier had been secretly grilled in an anti-corruption probe investigating allegedly corrupt land deals.

An upper house motion on Wednesday passed requiring the government to table in parliament all emails and other correspondence between the pair. Any correspondence between the Premier or his office and Mr Woodman or his employees will need to be tabled within three weeks.

It was revealed this month the Premier was quizzed by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission over his association with Mr Woodman.

Mr Woodman is under investigation for allegedly corrupt land deals, and has been central to the IBAC’s Operation Sandon.

Premier Daniel Andrews during question time. Picture: David Crosling
Premier Daniel Andrews during question time. Picture: David Crosling

The investigation is one of two known probes to have involved the Premier.

He has also been questioned in secret as part of IBAC’s Operation Watts, which investigated claims of widespread corruption within the Victorian Labor Party.

He has refused to say whether or not he has been questioned as part of a third IBAC investigation probing his government’s dealings with the United Firefighters Union over the controversial amalgamation of the state’s fire services.

As part of Operation Sandon, Mr Andrews was questioned about his association with Mr Woodman and whether the Premier had been given his phone number.

The probe appears interested in whether there is a connection between Mr Woodman and Mr Andrews, who have attended the same political fundraising functions.

Developer John Woodman leaves an IBAC hearing. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
Developer John Woodman leaves an IBAC hearing. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Operation Sandon has investigated allegedly corrupt land deals between Mr Woodman and Casey councillors in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs.Former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon committed suicide just days after receiving her draft report from IBAC in January.

Read related topics:Daniel Andrews

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/state-government-forced-to-table-correspondence-between-daniel-andrews-and-john-woodman/news-story/c9d4687535afe20ba49e389cd4804fe5